Hornsby Council recently put out its draft Town Centre Masterplan for commentary  by the community.

The Council’s vision is for Hornsby to be ‘a place for people that reflects the uniqueness of the bushland setting, integrated around key public spaces, where the city meets the bush. An active, thriving centre that exhibits economic diversity, design excellence, liveability and sustainability. ‘

The Masterplan and its supplementary Transport and Landscape plans offer exciting ideas about what the town centre and its immediate environment might look like. With significant change, however, comes significant challenges and the opportunity for things to go awry.

The residential population of the area in question is currently just under 500 people but with an increase in residential high rise in the CBD will quickly grow to 11 500!

Bike North made a submission addressing the implications for cycling and the need for the Masterplan to better address and implement active transport considerations for the plan to be a success for the whole community.

Bike North is pleased with the genuine attempts by Hornsby Shire to incorporate active transport in this Master Plan and applauds a number of specific aspects.  We have identified a small number of key issues with the Plan that will reduce its value to active transport and made these clear in our submissions. 

Complementing the submission made by Bicycle NSW which focussed on the higher-level aspirational goals for active transport, Bike North’s approach concentrates more on the detailed practicalities of the Plan.

Read Bike North’s submission here and Bicycle NSW’s submission here.