We walk each day on a shared path along a river in Maryville, Newcastle, and have been worried about the increasing speed of bike riders . It has made it near impossible to walk safely along the path with the advent of “fat bikes” loaded with up to three children, in the past year. They then leave the path and ride along the busy main roads on their way to school. My main concern is who pays the medical fees for a serious collision with a pedestrian.
There needs to be a concerted safety drive by government to make both parents and teenagers aware of which e-bikes are legal and the road rules. Schools can recommend but not enforce , council rangers don’t have the authority to enforce, and the police force we understand is under-staffed, and doesn’t appear to have the resources and/or time to enforce. E-bikes are a great form of transport for all ages – from the young to the not so young.
There’s a very strong body of independent academic research which reports that larger local government actually costs residents more, with inflated numbers of middle and senior managers being the key drivers for increased costs. There are of course no economies of scale when you still have the same number of bins to empty, roads to maintain and community services to deliver. The cost of bigger councils for regional areas is even larger than for Sydney-based amalgamated councils.
For residents of the former Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville local government areas, Inner West Council is imposed, unwanted and unloved, simply a product of the major parties for whom democracy means what’s in their best interests.Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne wants to make the council “even more effective and progressive”. He could start by organising an efficient garbage collection service.Thank goodness sanity has prevailed.
Many members are open-minded on the proposed sale, we simply want those behind it, and those supporting it in the media, to demonstrate that they are capable of treating the matter with the seriousness it deserves. Surely that’s not a lot to ask.I find it unfathomable that in this day and age a Telstra spokesperson says it is “difficult to guarantee coverage to all areas through towers” and that “it’s a challenge that must be shared between ...