Collins St bike lane trial: Nearly 1000 people set to attend public meeting at City Hall

Nearly 1000 people are expected to attend a packed public meeting where the future of the Hobart City Council’s looming bike lane trial on Collins St will be hotly debated.

Doctor Dominic Lang and Doctor Anna Johnston. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Nearly 1000 people will pile into City Hall on Tuesday evening for a public debate about the Hobart City Council’s two-year bike lane trial on Collins St, with works to install the project now under way.

Contractors began constructing the separated bike lanes between Molle and Harrington streets on Monday.

The trial, dubbed Transforming Collins St, will see the removal of about 35 parking spaces, with all loading zones to be retained and two new accessible spaces to be established.

Concept design of Collins St bike lane trial. Picture: Hobart City Council

Streetside dining options will also be available between Harrington and Victoria streets.

Some business owners have heavily criticised the plan, fearing that a reduction in parking will result in less trade, while proponents of active transport say it will make the CBD a more attractive place to shop and encourage more people to safely ride bikes and walk.

Streets People Love Hobart spokesman Mark Donnellon, who has been campaigning in support of the trial, said Hobart’s active transport network needed to cater to people who felt unsafe sharing the road with cars.

“The Collins St project feeds directly into the people coming from South Hobart, the people that are already brave enough to ride on the roads with cars,” he said.

Anna Johnston, Anna Blake and Mark Donnellon, of community group, Streets People Love Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“And to me, that demonstrates that there is untapped demand for cycle commuting out of South Hobart. It’s very doable – imagine if it was safe, as well.”

The public meeting at City Hall on Tuesday is the result of a petition by lobby group Confederation of Greater Hobart Business, which opposes the trial.

The group collected 1000 signatures to force the council to hold a meeting, which could lead to a non-binding elector poll being held on the issue.

Confederation of Greater Hobart Business chair Edwin Johnstone said the trial should be scrapped and stressed that businesses were not just concerned about the removal of parking.

“We are confident in the fact we have majority support from the public,” he said.

“Apart from wanting the proposal stopped, our aim is for all future proposals to be fact-based with local data, properly consulted and have community and stakeholder support.”

Chair of the Confederation of Greater Hobart Business Edwin Johnstone. Picture: Linda Higginson

Hobart City Council CEO Michael Stretton said just under 900 people had registered to attend the meeting.

It will be moderated by an independent facilitator and four motions are on the agenda.

“A report on the meeting’s outcomes will be provided to the Council, which will decide whether to act on any motions,” Mr Stretton said.

Bruce Levett, the former CEO of Health Consumers Tasmania and a member of Streets People Love Hobart, said supporters of the trial didn’t want Hobartians to “ditch their cars”.

“To me, it’s a much bigger issue that we in Tasmania need to think about – how we redesign our streets so that those who can cycle or can walk can do so,” he said.

Transport Minister Eric Abetz withdrew $170,000 of state government funding for the project last year, saying he had listened to “overwhelming community sentiment from bus drivers, commuters, Hobart citizens and the business community that proceeding with the bike lane was not the right decision”.

Originally published as Collins St bike lane trial: Nearly 1000 people set to attend public meeting at City Hall