But the council’s final proposal,to be adopted at a meeting on Tuesday,has scrapped the cycleway entirely after a backlash led by three residents’ groups concerned about safety,parking spaces and the loss of nine trees.
In a document analysing the feedback,the council lamented the cycleway had been planned in response to the public’s desire for more active transport and fewer cars,as expressed during an earlier community engagement process,and that many children liked to cycle to school.
The council also said the community’s fears were mostly wrong:no parking spaces would have been lost as a direct result of the cycleway,and new trees would have been planted to replace the nine that were removed.
“Unfortunately ... there was some community confusion about what was being proposed and concerns regarding the cycleway design concept,” the document said. “While these issues have been addressed and clarified ... the proposed cycleway within the Avalon Beach Village will not proceed.”
At a public meeting last year,residents’ groups criticised the cycleway as the worst part of the Avalon place plan. Conrad Grayson,of the Avalon Preservation Association,said the community did not want “a CBD-style cycleway carving through the pedestrian village”.
Clareville and Bilgola Plateau Residents Association president Catherine Kerr said Avalon should be treated differently to busy Manly.