Northern Beaches’ first walk and ride for Better Streets
Photo: Better Streets Northern Beaches
Congratulations to Better Streets Northern Beaches (New South Wales) group for organising a Walk, Ride and Scoot event from Manly Wharf to Manly Lagoon. The aim of the event was to send a message to the newly-elected Council that we need better streets for our children to be able to walk, ride and scoot to school.
Across Australia, the number of children using these active modes to get to school has declined from 75% to 25% over the last 40 years due to the continued investment in car infrastructure at the expense of safe walking and bike riding infrastructure. Raising awareness and educating people about these issues is one of the objectives of events like this. This Walk, Ride and Scoot event was a short distance, but it was enough to demonstrate the large number of people walking and riding to get to Manly beach. Every pole and fence available along the Manly Beach cycleway was tied up with bikes, most of the time even double or triple parked.
The event was attended by four councillors (Clr Joeline Hackman, Clr Kristyn Glanville, Clr Candy Bingham, Clr Bonnie Harvey) whose commitment and support was much appreciated. We had some valuable discussion time with them to discuss the local projects we are working on, not least the Oliver Street Corridor Upgrade which has been running for years and is still at the design stage. It comes up for a crucial vote in the upcoming weeks and has faced the usual noisy opposition.
Photo: Better Streets volunteers talking to locals about the issues on their streets.
We also further communicated with families and local residents on the day asking them to identify the areas they find dangerous and where they would like additional facilities, such as pedestrian crossings, and to mark them on a large map. We heard from a number of families, who were all keen to voice their concerns about their local environment and share their great ideas on how to improve things or people walking and riding their bikes. This data is being collected across a number of events and is being used to discuss and make the argument with Councillors on the need for change and greater investment.
North Manly bustling with people and bikes
Fruits kindly donated by Harris Farm Markets Manly
Manly cycleway is a convenient way to get to the Beach
Thank you to the volunteers who contributed their time and cupcake baking, to the local business support from Harris Farm Markets Manly for donating some fruit on the day for the kids and participants to enjoy.
The event was organised by three local residents who came together to form the Better Streets Northern Beaches group. They promoted the event primarily to families, using a combination of social media and in-person leafletting and engagement outside schools and local facilities. A key lesson learned from the day was that in-person leafletting and engagement was far more powerful than social media in reaching people and communicating the benefits.
If you want to get in touch with the Better Streets Northern Beaches team, reach out to them on northernbeaches@betterstreets.org.au.
Better Streets Resources
Tips on running your own event
Create a team (a working group)
Have an idea of the objective of the event
Is it to promote the group itself?
Is it to discuss issues in the area (do you need any maps or surveying material)
Is it to celebrate?
Is it to gather support for an issue/opportunity?
Invite local representatives from council
Seek donations / sponsorships for food, promotion, materials from local businesses (use their products and promote their services)
Promote the event via social media, in person, neighbours
Have fun
