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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-12-03 Daily Xml
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BICYCLE TRACKS

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD (15:10): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about bike tracks in Linear Park and around Adelaide—a government toppling question, no doubt.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.G.E. HOOD: A constituent contacted me recently to note his frustration with the bike tracks that he uses in Linear Park quite frequently. The constituent has explained to me that he rides the bike track three or four times a week over various routes and has complained to me that it is very poorly maintained in certain sections. Indeed, as a regular cyclist myself I would concur in that opinion.

A key problem, according to this constituent, is that the track is different from council region to council region, ranging from concrete slabs which are poorly suited to bike riding at the Paradise end to bulging and dangerous tree routes and potholes along the Hindmarsh and Walkerville sections. The constituent has asked me to campaign or bring this to the attention of the government in order to seek an upgrade of the track to the standard seen along the Port Adelaide Enfield and Grange sections which, I am told and indeed I have witnessed myself, are of a noticeably superior standard. The constituent has also complained to me that the track is poorly signposted and has frequently witnessed tourists riding into dead end sections of the track near the beach and along the Campbelltown sections in particular. My questions are:

1. Has the government considered taking jurisdiction over the bike track network and its signposting within the Linear Park region so it can be kept to a consistently high standard?

2. Will the minister ensure that this constituent's concerns are investigated?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:11): I thank the honourable member for his question. The government does not wish to take over responsibility for Linear Park, but we have provided a significant sum of money both to add to the Torrens River Linear Park and, with a bill that I hope will go through the other place today, also purchase land in relation to some of the other linear parks which we hope to establish through the metropolitan area.

In particular, under the Planning and Development Fund the government made available a significant sum of money—I think it was $1 million, if I recall correctly—to help various councils along Linear Park upgrade the safety of the Linear Park within their area. Although the responsibility for Linear Park should be with local government, following a couple of tragic incidents where young children had drowned in the Torrens River, the government established a work party in conjunction with local councils and looked at safety along Linear Park and provided additional funds to the local councils to help them with those safety issues.

The government is quite prepared to make, and has indeed made, money available. I can also talk about a significant sum of money the state government has spent where, as part of these upgrade programs, it has just constructed a new bridge at Underdale as well as purchasing a significant amount of additional land along Linear Park to improve the track. So, while local government controls Linear Park and we expect them to be responsible for the maintenance, the government has where necessary provided additional funding to local government to ensure that Linear Park is maintained to a safe condition.

Of course, if councils have a particular problem, we are always open to considering funding under the Planning and Development Fund to ensure that Linear Park remains in good condition. We do not see that the fund should be used necessarily to absolve local government of its responsibilities but, if special issues such as safety issues come to our attention, we have demonstrated that we will provide funds to local government to help them address particular problems.

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