30kmh plan for Borough roads

THE BOROUGH of Queenscliffe wants to become Australia’s first 30kmh municipality by cutting speed limits as part of a plan to make the region safer and more accessible to people walking, cycling and wheeling.

The recommendation is the first of four key strategies outlined in a draft Queenscliffe Active Transport Strategy (QATS) that was endorsed by councillors at the borough’s February meeting and will soon go out for public exhibition and comment.

The 64-page report includes a range of actions and initiatives designed at removing barriers to people’s use of non-motorised means of transport such as walking, riding, skating and wheelchairs, largely through the extension of dedicated pathways.

Speaking in support of the draft plan, borough mayor Isabelle Tolhurst described it as a “policy that has intergenerational benefits for our community”.

“This is kind of a visioning document, there’s a lot in it, we do welcome feedback on all components of it,” she said.

Alongside speed reductions, the plan identifies a need to complete and upgrade the borough’s pathway network by filling in missing links, including on the Bellarine Rail Trail, and making bike parking easier by installing relevant infrastructure.
“Our towns are quite unique, particularly when you look at the township of Point Lonsdale where most of those side streets don’t even have footpaths, so we have to be really careful how we plan for the future and whether we need to slow traffic down or make it easier for people to walk and ride their bikes,” Cr Ross Ebbels said.

“If they feel safe they’ll use it, which is obviously the outcome that we as councillors want to have.”

Cr Michael Grout successfully moved that the draft QATS be open for 28 days public exhibition rather than 14 as initially proposed, so the community had time to “provide more considered feedback”.

“There’s quite a lot of detail in the draft and really we would want you to focus your attention on the strategies and see if we have missed anything, if there’s things in there that shouldn’t be in there and we also want to see if we can improve the way we’re presenting these strategies,” he said.

Cr Grout said the draft plan aligned with the borough’s target of achieving zero carbon emission by 2031.

“If we can facilitate that with infrastructure changes or improvements, that’s what we’re seeking to do here and we want to, as far as possible, minimise the use of fossil fuels in getting around the borough where for many of us it’s quite easy to walk or cycle around.”