A shared path for pedestrians and cyclists will be built along Birmingham Street in Spotswood after Hobsons Bay council finally endorsed the proposal last week.
The proposal for a 3.5 metre-wide path along the southern side of Birmingham Street, between Hicks Street and Melbourne Road, was approved on August 26 after being delayed for a month due to confusion over whether the path should be shared by cyclists and pedestrians or if separate paths built for both.
Separate paths was the original proposal approved by council in February 2024, but by February this year planning was underway for a shared pathway along the southern side of the street next to the Spotswood Yards development.
In March local community group Better West lodged a petition calling on council to revert to its original separated path proposal on safety grounds, but in response council officers maintained their recommendation of a shared pathway, arguing the presence of underground gas pipes and the physical constraints of the site made it much cheaper and easier to build.
After moving to defer the matter at the July 29 meeting, Cr Kristin Bishop said she’d since inspected the Birmingham Street site with council officers and decided to follow their recommendation.
“It is apparent to me after all of that work that the shared path will meet the needs of the community for a very long time,” said Cr Bishop.
“Lets just get on with it” added Cr Michael Disbury who argued that in the future, cycling and pedestrian paths should be included as part of development plans, not built later.
Better West secretary Rowena Joske said the decision was “a massive kick in the guts to the community”.
“Council has been talking about Birmingham Street as being part of a major cycling route with separated paths since 2021, and this was strongly supported by the community,” said Ms Joske, who speculated that cost and complexity were not the real reasons for council shifting to a shared pathway.
“It’s really disappointing to learn now they (council) have overturned (separated paths) to widen the road to build extra car parks instead of prioritising bikes and pedestrians.”
