How a community stopped the B-Line extension plans to Newport
CRITICS of the northern beaches’ B-Line extension plan have long considered the transport initiative a ‘Trojan Horse’ for high-density development. Here is how they were able to rally together to ensure the extension didn’t go ahead.
Manly
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THEY will be celebrating the slaying of the B-Line “Trojan Horse” outside the Newport Surf Life Saving Club today.
Those who orchestrated a carefully planned, two-year campaign to have the extension of the turn-up-and-go express bus service from Mona Vale to Newport scrapped will come together at 2pm to dance on its grave.
The celebrations will be part of a community rally that had already been organised by groups who fear the NSW Government is keen to allow developers to turn the northern end of the peninsula, from Mona Vale to Palm Beach, into another Gold Coast.
Critics had been pushing the message that the B-Line extension was just a Trojan Horse for high-density development that would allow the government to reap more stamp duty revenue.
Others, including the Newport Residents Association (NRA), argued the double-decker express buses would have destroyed the ambience of the beachside suburb.
The campaign to stop the buses started long before transport officials announced late on Tuesday afternoon that the B-line stop at Newport was dead and that they were “investigating further options to improve bus services for customers living north of Mona Vale”.
Transport for NSW (TfNSW) said it had received a clear message from the community — 85 per cent of the 1100 submissions to its plans opposed the buses coming into the Newport town centre or wanted the existing bus network to be improved instead.
NRA president Gavin Butler spoke to the Manly Daily after the announcement and detailed the efforts it, and its supporters, went to defeat the transport bureaucrats.
They lobbied MPs, circulated a petition, letter-dropped hundreds of homes, held protest meetings and conducted a survey that showed only nine per cent of locals wanted the B-Line.
Mr Butler said when residents learned in June 2016 that the government might extend the service from Mona Vale they started to ask questions about effects it would have. They were concerned the two bus-only lanes spearing through the busy Newport shopping precinct would lead to a drop in trade; trees would be removed; main street traffic congestion would worsen and drivers heading north to Avalon and beyond would have increased journey times.
There were fears the carpark at Newport surf club would be taken over by buses and that the rugby field at Porter Reserve would be used as a turnaround point.
But the campaign against the B-Line extension has been criticised by Pittwater MP Rob Stokes, who said “ridiculous and misleading rumours” had led to its “disappointing” cancellation.
Mr Butler said the NRA met Mr Stokes about four weeks ago and presented him with the survey results showing a lack of local support for the service and asked that the government concentrate on improving existing services.
“He said he’d show the figures to the Transport Minister (Andrew Constance),” Mr Butler said. “We told the government we weren’t opposed to the B-Line to Mona Vale, just that we didn’t want 100 of those buses turning around every day on the main road through Newport, creating another choke point at the intersection of Barrenjoey Rd and Neptune St.
“A lot of people were disappointed that Rob Stokes was supporting the plan to the point that they were coming to us saying, ‘We’ve got to mount a campaign’.”
Mr Butler said as soon as the community started hearing scuttlebutt about the B-Line coming to Newport he contacted the then administrator of Northern Beaches Council, Dick Persson, to try and enlist council support, without success.
After the government officially announced the extension plan in May 2017, pressure grew on the NRA from residents and its own members — it had about 70 at the time — to hold a public rally in Newport to protest the extension.
“They were saying that we had to up the ante,” Mr Butler said.
“About 700 people turned up in October and 500 signed a petition on the day.”
The NRA then directly lobbied Mr Constance through constant letter writing. In December, it arranged a joint meeting with the council, TfNSW and other community groups from Palm and Whale beaches, Bilgola Plateau, Clareville and Avalon. to present suggestions about how the existing bus network could be improved.
Mr Butler said the government indicated it was pressing ahead with the B-Line plan. “We letterboxed everyone who signed the petition, asking them to join our email survey,” he said. “Whenever we have a major issue on we have a whole plan in place. Our members divide up the communities into streets for leaflet drops.”
Sections of the community supported the B-Line extension because they did not want peak-hour express services to end at Mona Vale. But Mr Butler said feedback the government received showed the majority of residents opposed the extension plan.
Mr Stokes, of Newport, said if people did not want a new service “there are plenty of communities around the state who would.”
“There were some ridiculous and misleading rumours being spread around the community. However, the reality was the complexity of the underground utility relocations and the time frames involved simply weren’t practical.
“There was no proposal to build a bus terminal, no proposal to remove rows of trees, no proposal to construct new carparks and no proposal to introduce clearways.
“The most disappointing and mischievous rumour being peddled around the community was that the B-Line would somehow change planning and development rules. This is simply not true.
“There were a lot of people keen for the B-Line but there were a lot of older people north of Mona Vale who were not supportive and were concerned it would change the character. I don’t believe that was the case but I am elected to serve the community’s wishes.”
Transport for NSW is now reviewing how it can best service customers north of Mona Vale.
It promised funds saved from not pursuing the extension of the B-Line to Newport will be remain within the B-Line project budget.
In November 2017 the Government introduced more than 3,200 new weekly services to the northern beaches including a high-frequency 199 service between Palm Beach and Manly, and more E88 services between Avalon Beach and Wynyard.