A message from the President
On October 14, the referendum on the Voice will be held. I want to take this chance to send you a personal message about why I am voting Yes and why I believe it aligns with our values. WalkSydney stands, across the political spectrum, for a fairer society when the status quo is not good enough (particularly when it comes to walking about). We advocate for progress towards the kind of society in which we want to live, rather than shrinking from change, for fear things could always get worse.
A few years ago, in a similar plebiscite on gay marriage, I believe most people voted yes because they recognised two things - 1) while they may not have felt it was their issue, they did not feel right to shrink from the task when asked, and 2) risked little personally to do the right thing. I see it the same way here.
So I'm standing for better, and asking you to join me.
Meetings
Our AGM was held on 26 August. The 2023-24 office bearers are:
- Marc Lane as President
- David Martin continues as Vice-President
- David Haertsch continues as Treasurer
- Regina Haertsch continues as Secretary
- Tegan Mitchell continues as a committee member
- Tim Cassidy continues as a committee member
- Lena Huda remains on the board as a committee member
- Josephine Roper has joined the board as our Technologist
- Michael Bishop has joined the board as a committee member.
David Levinson has stepped down from the board but continues as Advisor to the Committee.
To read more go to https://walksydney.org/2023/09/18/welcome-to-our-new-commitee/
We also surveyed members and following the results of that poll, have updated our logo and key messages as follows:
WalkSydney: The peak body advocating for walking in Greater Sydney
Supporting walking to be the first choice for short trips around Sydney
Our top 3 Asks for 2023/4 are:
30km/h default speed limit (as previously)
Streets that are safe and easy to cross (formerly ‘traffic signal improvements’)
Pedestrian priority over cars (formerly ‘road rules prioritising pedestrians’)
Our goals are to:
Inform politicians of the benefits of walking
Guide public policy to put walking first
Collaborate with friends of WalkSydney
Persuade other organisations and the public of the benefits of walking, and
Build partnerships
We also met with the following groups since our last newsletter:
- Parliamentary Friends of Active Transport (21 September), together with Better
Streets, Bicycle NSW, 30Please and Marco te Brommelstroet (visiting professor)
Posts
- Submission on draft City of Sydney Access Strategy and Action Plan (June 20)
- Reallocation of street space and signal time (July 21)
- Submission on Professor. Fels’ Tolling Review – At What Toll (27 July)
- Upgrades to Sydney Harbour and Coast Walk (Northern Beaches Section) (24 Aug)
- A variation on WalkConnex (25 Aug)
Projects / Links
- We are working with the Committee for Sydney on a chapter on walkability in precincts as part of their Density series. Further information to come.
- We are scheduled to meet with Minister Haylen in November.
Upcoming Events
OCTOBER 14 : REFERENDUM ON THE VOICE