Cyclists who are lobbying for a shared walking and cycling connection between Penrith and the Blue Mountains have expressed concerns about Penrith Council's commitment to the proposal.
But clarification from the council has left them with some hope the project could still be on track.
The Blue Mountains Cycling Safety Forum (BMCSF) is concerned that Penrith City Council's draft Green Grid Strategy does not include the shared connection between the River Walk and Glenbrook via Leonay Oval.
The exclusion misses the opportunity to link Penrith Council's shared path from the Yandhai bridge river crossing to the Knapsack Viaduct via Emu Plains, the group said.
In March this year, the BMCSF published a Lower Mountains cycle network plan that proposes 14km of shared cycling/walking paths on public land linking the popular Nepean River Walk to Glenbrook town centre via Leonay, and to Knapsack Reserve and Chalmers lookout trail.
The NSW Government and Blue Mountains mayor Mark Greenhill have supported the plan which capitalises on the planned remediation and opening of the disused Lapstone Rail Tunnel in Glenbrook, which recently received $2.5 million funding from the NSW Government on top of $1.5 million previously allocated.
"I believe a sealed three-metre wide shared path green space route from the southern end of the River Walk to Leonay and the Glenbrook Tunnel and Glenbrook cafes would be enormously popular with walkers and riders seeking the amenity of traffic free open space in bushland and a heritage experience," said BMCSF president, David Tritton.
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Penrith Council's Green Grid strategy states it "creates opportunities for a walkable city connecting Penrith's town centre and neighbourhoods, the Nepean foreshore, waterways, recreational and open space networks through the provision of green infrastructure that will contribute to city cooling, liveability and ecology".
"The grid reinforces the network of pathways, cycleways and connects neighbourhoods to open space linkages at the local level".
Mr Tritton said the cycling/walking network plan is a "great opportunity for further collaboration between the councils of Penrith, the Blue Mountains, the NSW Government and the local community to increase liveability for the local community and help build resilience in local economies by providing a much needed alternative form of connectivity between the two local government areas".
A spokesman for Penrith Council said the draft Green Grid Strategy does include the possibility of linking Penrith to Glenbrook.
"The potential of the open space along the M4 Motorway - to provide an active link from Penrith to Glenbrook - is identified in the draft Penrith Green Grid Strategy (Project 6.3) and council encourages feedback from the community to help refine or further develop these identified projects, and to finalise the strategy," he said.
The spokesman described the draft strategy as a "high-level document which puts forward desirable links across the Penrith Local Government Area to deliver a connected green grid into the future".
"By building on the Greater Sydney Green Grid, the strategy includes the regional links that will also deliver connectivity to surrounding LGAs (local government areas)."
Mr Tritton said the cycling group saw this as a positive development.
"The BMCSF welcomes clarification by Penrith City Council that it is open to developing an active transport link to Glenbrook via Leonay and the M4 Green space corridor and looks forward to working with council and the community to further work through the detail of the BMCSF proposal," he said.
All projects identified in the draft strategy are subject to funding and further detailed design prior to implementation.
The draft Penrith Green Grid Strategy is on public exhibition until August 3. The community is invited to view the document and provide feedback at: yoursaypenrith.com.au/greengrid
