Kingborough Council in Hobart’s south is calling for ideas for what people want to see in the area to help it make decisions about infrastructure and services, including for bicycles.
The Why Kingborough webpage allows you to submit your ideas and to comment and vote on other people's ideas.
This is the first step in a consultation process with the community but it would be ideal if bicycle infrastructure is on the agenda from the beginning.
The town of Kingston is the main centre of the council area and has a car-centric design, with shops clustered in centres surrounded by car parks with poor pedestrian and cycling access.
With all the new residential development happening in the area there is scope to set aside land for bicycle connections to schools, shops and services but little has been done to date.
Kingborough Council has a Tracks and Trails plan but no bicycle plan and no transport plan.
It would be fantastic if this council committed to a bicycle plan that incorporated transport and recreational bicycle infrastructure that made it easier to ride in Kingborough.
Kingborough is one of the fastest growing regions in greater Hobart and there is undoubtedly latent demand for bicycle infrastructure.
If paths can cater to recreational and transport cycling at the same time, they are easier to deliver. The immediate success of the Snug to Margate path shows that people will use the paths once they are built and its continuation through to Kingston should be a next step.
There is also the need for better on-road bicycle infrastructure connecting the main towns to each other and residential areas.
The Council has a feasibility study scheduled this year for improving bicycle lanes on Channel Highway through Taroona and is working with the designers of the new Kingston High site to ensure bicycles are catered for.
What do you think the council needs to do to make it easier to ride every day in Kingborough?