Northern beaches footpath network to get $30 million boost

A VISION for the northern beaches footpath network was passed at the last Northern Beaches Council meeting with $30 million proposed to be pumped into high and medium priority areas.

Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan has challenged staff to get more footpaths in quicker. Picture: Adam Yip.

A VISION for the northern beaches footpath network was passed at the last Northern Beaches Council meeting with $30 million proposed to be pumped into high and medium priority areas.

Councillors put WALK Northern Beaches Walking Plan on public exhibition — the first plan of its kind for the area — which would focus on top priorities for the next decade.

The council hopes to add more footpaths to areas of need.

The program is grouped under five headings starting from “immediate priority” (to be delivered in the 2019-2020) to “not required or not feasible”. If the plan was to be completed from most important to least, as outlined, it would take about 50 years.

The estimated funding required to complete the draft program’s high and medium priorities is $34 million. The cost of full program delivery would be about $142 million.

But Mayor Michael Regan said: “The question is though, is 50 years for the whole program to be delivered too long?

“We need to challenge ourselves, be innovative and see if we can allocate the resources and budget we need to deliver every footpath on the list sooner.

“I plan to challenge staff to bring forward a new plan that accelerates our new footpath program even further.

“I want to see at least one footpath in every street and, if can, we get it done by 2030.

“I’d like to see if we can be even more ambitious and leave an even greater legacy as the first elected council for our residents.”

It is the first of the seven plans that sit under the recently adopted MOVE Northern Beaches Transport Strategy.

The priority list is the result of an analysis undertaken to assess and rate all the missing footpaths. The funding is in addition to the Northern Beaches Coast Walk from Manly to Palm Beach.