Traders: ‘Results skewed’
Consultation questioned
THE (CURRENT) COMMUNITY SURVEY MAKES NO MENTION THAT THERE ARE TWO OPTIONS OR THAT IT IS ABOUT THE HIGH ST PROJECT.
A GEELONG traders association has called into question the city’s consultation process used to select designs for a controversial protected bike lanes project along a major suburban shopping strip.
The Belmont Traders Association this week raised concerns with how the city had decided on its preferred option for the final section of its TAC-funded $6.3m Building Better Bike Lanes project, including claims the city had moved to “skew the results” of community consultation.
Councillors approved a tender process in March to deliver stage 2 of the southern link, building a protected bike path from the Barwon River to Waurn Ponds via High St, Belmont – with one-way separated bike paths built on each side of High St.
Belmont Traders Association president Nicola Dore told the Geelong Advertiser the group held “overall concerns regarding the consultation process” for the preferred designs.
The city’s consultation offered respondents four options for how to deliver the project, grouping two of the options under “option 2”.
Option 1 for bikes and cars to share the road received 35 per cent of support, while options 2a (19 per cent) and 2b (23 per cent) were combined to give 39 per cent.
“Option 2b is the preferred option for the council, however, this option was not the preferred option during the initial public consultation back in 2018,” Ms Dore said. “They have combined options 2a and 2b to skew the results,” she said.
“The (current) community survey makes no mention that there are two options or that it is about the High St project, so again, the public feedback will be skewed.
“Overall the Belmont Traders are in favour of more pedestrian crossings and the rejuvenation of High St, but would love for there to be more transparency in the process which seems to be getting rushed through.”
The City of Greater Geelong this month launched a fresh round of community engagement on the Building Better Bike Connections project, seeking feedback on the completed and planned sections of the paths connecting the CBD to Waurn Ponds via Belmont, and to Herne Hill via Geelong West. Stage 2 of the southern link is the only stage yet to be completed.
Under the Belmont 2b plans, about 30 High St carparking spaces would be removed from the existing 83, with the potential to double the number of trees along the strip.
Loss of parking has been widely criticised by opponents of the project, but a CoGG FAQ page noted there were about 1100 carpark spaces in the High St area.