Byron Council has edged closer to finally building a cycleway between Mullumbimby and Brunswick Heads, settling on a path that will essentially follow the main road route between the two towns.
Local cyclists have been calling for a safe, separated bike path between Mullum and Bruns for decades, with the current route requiring a hair-raising ride along Gulgan Road as cars fly by at 80 km/h.
Following a survey testing the community’s appetite for different routes, Council staff investigated a scenic path heading north out of Mullum, along the rail corridor, and then east through backroads and private property to Brunswick Valley Way.
But the investigation found that this option had multiple issues, including the fact that the landowners in question vociferously opposed the plan, and were never consulted about it.
Landowners, opposed, not consulted by Council
At last week’s Council meeting, a majority of councillors voted for a return to a simple route for the bike path that has been on the table for decades – an off-road, separated cycleway running beside Mullumbimby Street, along Gulgan Road, and then Tweed Street.
The process of preparing designs for this route will now begin.
‘Going from Mullum to Bruns is really important for a lot of members of our community,’ said Independent councillor Peter Westheimer.
‘I think it’s a shame that we’ve spent a lot of money exploring the northern route given the problems that were there.
‘It’s time to deliver something. Let’s hope that we can walk away with this cycleway at least being started [at the end of the current Council term].’
Despite the plethora of problems with the more scenic northern option, Councillors were not willing to toss it away completely.
They expressly noted that their resolution did ‘not exclude a northern option being looked at in the future’.
However, there was an acknowledgment that any such consideration should take into account the interests of landowners, and must not include a route travelling through 41a Synotts Lane, a property that would have effectively been dissected by the original northern route.
Earlier, during the public access section of the meeting, local bike path advocate, Garth Luke, said the Gulgan Road option was far superior because it was flatter and less isolated.
‘The northern route is incredibly isolated,’ Mr Luke said. ‘And while that’s fine for middle-aged men in their cycle gear and people in groups, it is not fine for children and it is not fine for women cycling on their own.
‘The [Gulgan] road route offers passive surveillance… If something goes wrong… there’s car access to get assistance.’
However, fellow cycling advocate, David Michie, said the road route via Gulgan Road was ‘unappealing, unprotected and unsafe’.
‘Bikes will be next to 80km/h traffic, it involves many road crossings and intersections, and it’s no shorter than driving,’
Mr Michie said. ‘You have to ask, is it worth doing?’
Mr Michie said he did not believe the northern option should be closed off forever, because landholders could change, and Council still required a sewage transfer pipeline from Synotts Lane to Smokey Valley Way through private land.
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