Asbestos clean-up spending has eaten into council’s budget, prompting two Ward 1 councillors to suggest deferring a bike path from Blackheath to Mt Victoria.
Crs Kevin Schreiber and Kerry Brown will suggest at tomorrow night’s meeting that the plans be put on hold.
The councillors have proposed a notice of motion recognising that council will have to dump some of its planned works because of budget overruns on asbestos and workplace safety initiatives.
They propose that work which has started on a footpath between town and Radiance Avenue be completed but the rest be halted.
The work is being funded partly through a grant from the NSW government (matched by council) so Crs Schreiber and Brown suggest council write to the planning department.
They hope that council could tell the department of its “major financial commitments” due to asbestos and ask if it could postpone further work on the path, use the grant to pay for the current works between Radiance Avenue and the town centre and hold on to any remaining funds for future work.
The councillors also want a report on the cost of the current work and for continuing the path along the highway.
The route has been widely criticised by the Blackheath community, concerned about safety issues and whether anyone will want to use a path that runs beside the highway.
The Blackheath Alliance and Blackheath Highway Action Group have long advocated a path on the other side of the railway line, which would afford lovely views of the Kanimbla Valley.
But Transport for NSW’s insistence on a 3.5 metre buffer zone appeared to have ruled out that route.
Crs Schreiber and Brown hope that council will agree to have further consultation with “all interested community groups, residents, businesses and cycle groups together with Transport NSW/Sydney Trains to explore the feasibility and costing for a safe scenic route between Blackheath and Mount Victoria on the western side of the railway line”.
Cr Brown said: “Our investment reserves are down $8 million since last year, a 30 per cent drop that has cost half a million in annual interest. It is at least partly due to over $8 million being spent on the asbestos clean-up and investigations.
“Council’s finance people have warned that we must cut some projects and programs to rebuild these reserves.
“This leg of the bike trail is not an essential service and the highway route is deeply unpopular with the local community and cyclists. Putting it aside for a few years will save a million dollars or more to help rebuild reserves and give council breathing space to explore the two rail corridor options for the trail that the community have asked us to pursue.”
Cr Schreiber said “why waste money at the moment when we don’t have to on something that nobody supports”.