FINAL adoption of the Canning council’s proposed Cycling and Walking Plan has been delayed until May at the request of Councillor Yaso Ponnuthurai.
The matter came before council on February 20 where Cr Ben Kunze spoke against it, concerned the plan did not include cycle paths on major arterial routes like High Road, Leach Highway and South Street.
Cr Kunze said he could not put his name to the plan as he could not accept the City’s plan was ignoring the arterial routes which provide cyclists the fastest routes.
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READ NOW“It’s not a matter of if there will be an accident but when,” he said of cyclists risking riding these highways and major roads.
Cr Kunze was concerned the cheaper, winding routes were not the best routes, and riders could already use backstreets.
He also did not see the point of including bicycle boulevards.
The plan includes five key routes and a 30-35m bridge over the freight line to link Canning Vale Industrial Estate with Livingston Estate to create a north-south route to the tune of $6.5 to $7 million.
Cr Ponnuthurai was keen to defer with a procedural motion to have time to consider the matter.
The vote was 6-5 in favour of delaying debate until May, with Mayor Paul Ng, Cr Graham Barry, Cr Sara Saberi, and Cr Tim Porter against the procedural motion.
The chief executive agreed to a Strategic Issues briefing prior to the May meeting.
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