Greens and Community Protest Ballina-Byron cyclepath route
From Left front row: Vince Kelly, NSW Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon Louise Owen, Lyn Walker.
NSW and Ballina Greens united forces with community groups on Wednesday 7th
to tell Ballina Council that the proposed cycleway along the dunes and
headlands is unacceptable to the local community.
There was a great attendance at the rally, including people from Ballina
and Byron Greens, Ballina Climate Action Network, Ballina Environment
Society, Lennox Head Residents' Association, Northern Rivers Cycle
Club, Lennox Landcare, Lennox Head Chamber of Commerce, Lennox Care, Lennox
Field Naturalists, plus numerous interested individuals.
They firmly rejected the proposed route for a concrete path. "It doesn't meet the community's needs, is too expensive, and will have a devastating impact on the fragile Coastal Reserve" Ballina Shire Greens Councillor Jeff Johnson told the crowd.
"Why spend millions of dollars of rate payers' money on creating a visual scar on the headlands and destabilizing the dunes?"
"It's not called 'coastal hazard zone' for nothing. The Lennox dunes are the community's only defense against rising seas and storm surges. That's why Landcare groups have been planting native grasses and trees on them for over 20 years."
Louise Owen, Lennox Chamber of Commerce President agreed. "Tourists don't come to Lennox to ride up steep hills, they come here to relax and enjoy our precious environment". The Chamber, she said, are completely behind her on this issue. They want commuter pathways connecting our coastal villages.
Asked whether he could manage the ascent up Lennox Headland, one fit, 16-year old lycra-clad champion cyclist said "Sure, on my mountain bike I could, but I'd be totally shattered when I finally got there!"
Lee Rhiannon, member of the NSW Legislative Council and NSW Greens' Transport spokesperson said that "Ballina Council should drop its current cycleway plan and get behind an integrated cycleway network to provide an alternative transport option for the community."
The NSW Government has advised coastal councils never to build in the coastal hazard zone. That gives Ballina Council clear direction to move this cycleway to the Reserve beside the Coast Road, within a secure sub-reserve of its own - just like other safe, popular, functioning cycleways around Ballina.
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