News & Discussion: Adelaide City Council

[ChillyPhilly]

So I'm not a news ltd subscriber, nor will I ever be, but Adelaidenow seems to have an article outing Greg Griffin as the chief a-hole threatening to sue council over the proposed Bikeway.

What a shock. Not.

[Nathan]

Adelaide City Council threatened with legal action over proposed East-West Bikeway through CBD

Property owners have vowed to take legal action if Adelaide City Council approves a new $5.8m bikeway.

Elected members will hold a special meeting on Tuesday night to discuss two options proposed by staff for the East-West Bikeway through the CBD.

Lawyer Greg Griffin has told the council he will seek court orders to stop the project, which must be approved by the end of this month otherwise it will lose a $3m State Government grant.

Mr Griffin, who operates from a building on Flinders Street, wrote a lengthy letter to the council last Friday on behalf of property owners on Flinders and Franklin streets who will lose up to 180 parking spaces if it goes ahead.

Council planning staff already have changed the route of the bikeway to avoid legal action by the property owners, changing an original proposal to go up Franklin and Flinders streets by creating a dog-leg into Gawler Place and on to Wakefield Street.

They now are seeking approval to either put the bikeway alongside footpaths or in the centre of the road, with physical barriers separating cyclists from other road users.

A bikeway next to footpaths would result in cyclists riding near students attending four schools, parishioners at two churches, passengers at several public bus stops and customers entering various shops, hotels and small businesses.

In his letter, Mr Griffin said the council had ignored resolutions it had made in 2017 to ensure there was widespread community consultation on any proposed bikeway, instead only seeking public feedback for a brief period last month on the likely design, not its overall route.

“We are vehemently opposed to the East-West Bikeway where it concerns any portion of Flinders or Franklin Street,” he said.

“It is obvious to me and my clients that council’s administrative personnel continue to operate without regard to this feedback and the strong and well-considered opinions of their ratepayers and elected members.”

In a report for the meeting, staff said a project team had met with 10 key stakeholders, including primary schools, property owners and churches.

“These stakeholders are generally not supportive of the bikeway along the currently proposed route,” the report said.

“Their concerns include safety and access across the bikeway for children, older people and people living with a disability; loss of carparking or drop-off spaces, in particular at schools and places of worship; and impact of parking controls on clearways.”

The report said there would be further consultation once the council decided on the type of bikeway it wanted to develop, ensuring it was “safe and functional for all street users and can be implemented within the available budget”.

The special council meeting on the bikeway will start at 5pm in the Adelaide Town Hall.

[Nort]

Property owners will be losing parking spaces? What fucking entitlement to think they own those public roads.

[SRW]

It'd be nice to hear the peak cycling bodies arguing the East-West case in counterweight to this nonsense.

[Nathan]

It'd be nice to hear the peak cycling bodies arguing the East-West case in counterweight to this nonsense.

I don’t think they’d really help. I find the cycling bodies have a very narrow view in the types of cyclists they represent and what their needs are. Plus those that already don’t like cyclists aren’t going to be swayed by anything BikeSA has to say.

It needs to be argued from an urban planning angle. The economic benefits, and how even a small modal shift benefits everyone in the city beyond the cyclists using it.

[SRW]

It'd be nice to hear the peak cycling bodies arguing the East-West case in counterweight to this nonsense.

It needs to be argued from an urban planning angle. The economic benefits, and how even a small modal shift benefits everyone in the city beyond the cyclists using it.

Yes, that's true. The rational appeal. Everything else gets lost into a cyclists vs motorists shit fight.

[Waewick]

Its actually really sad we have people like this in Adelaide still.



The council should just stop allowing parking on the roads for a few years and see how that goes. Then build the bike path (yes, I get they lose the funding)

[[Shuz]]

On what grounds could they possibly sue the council for? This is a fairly open and shut case. Council owns the road, they can do what they like with it.

[ChillyPhilly]

Greg Griffin helped invent the Crows and was a very unpopular chairman of Adelaide United.

He's not the most loved guy.

[Nort]

On what grounds could they possibly sue the council for? This is a fairly open and shut case. Council owns the road, they can do what they like with it.

They don't need to think they could actually win, they just need to cause enough trouble and delay things long enough that they don't happen.

[Nathan]

I hope it backfires. The whole reason for the stupid dogleg route was to avoid tripping Griffin off. If he's going to sue regardless of the route though, then the council may as well stick to the original plan and go straight down Flinders St.

[Alyx]

Aaand it's dead:

Adelaide City Council has abandoned plans to spend $5.8m on a new east-west city bikeway.

Elected members ended four years of controversy by voting 8-3 on Monday night against a bikeway from West Terrace to Hutt Street up Franklin Street, into Gawler Place and onto Wakefield Street.

Staff proposed the dog-leg design late last year as a compromise following threats by property owners on Flinders Street to sue the council if they lost street carparks.

The Greek community, St Mary’s College and businesses on Franklin Street and Wakefield Street joined the Flinders Street property owners in complaining about losing carparks if the bikeway went ahead.

They also expressed concern about the safety of their students and parishioners, especially elderly people attending regular church services, weddings and funerals.

The Greek Orthodox Community of SA particularly was worried about people who regularly play bingo at a hall on the corner of Franklin Street and West Terrace.

During an 70-minute debate, councillors criticised the amount of consultation between the council and stakeholders, some of whom were given less than three days to respond. Public feedback was sought about two options – a kerbside bike lane or one in the middle of the road.

Elected members were asked to vote on the kerbside option, which would have seen 179 carparks removed, costing the council about $500,000 each year in lost income.

Full article: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/sou ... a4bb9dcaba

[Nathan]

Fuck each and every one of those eight councillors. If you're more interested in fucking over out-groups than improving the city you should never put your name forward to be on a council.

The state government was even going to pick up the tab for them. If all it takes is for one prominent lawyer to beat their chest to kill a project, then they're all weak cowards.

Edit:

Councillors Helen Donovan, Robert Sims and Phillip Martin supported its construction, while Alexander Hyde, Anne Moran, Simon Hou, Arman Abrahimzadeh, Franz Knoll, Greg Mackie, Mary Couros and Jessy Khera voted against.

[Patrick_27]

Fuck each and every one of those eight councillors. If you're more interested in fucking over out-groups than improving the city you should never put your name forward to be on a council.

The state government was even going to pick up the tab for them. If all it takes is for one prominent lawyer to beat their chest to kill a project, then they're all weak cowards.

Edit:

Councillors Helen Donovan, Robert Sims and Phillip Martin supported its construction, while Alexander Hyde, Anne Moran, Simon Hou, Arman Abrahimzadeh, Franz Knoll, Greg Mackie, Mary Couros and Jessy Khera voted against.

And there's the reason this died, voted down by every single one of the ACC's resident, dead-wood NIMBYs. Honestly, I too am over this fucking entitlement from elite-level businesses about the potential loss of their parking; I live in the CBD and pay council rates and yet because I live in an apartment and am not entitled to an on-street parking permit, do I complain? No, I deal with it. These pricks have two options, do what most normal people do and get on public transport, or pay for off-street parking elsewhere (seeing as they can clearly afford it and there is an abundance around this park of the CBD.

[cmet]

This is a genuine embarrassment. Just imagine this happening in the eastern cities, you can’t. Like said above why be on the council if you don’t act in the best interest of the public. Joke.