Scepticism about road to transport masterplan | #NSWpol

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Darin Sullivan in Main

JUST after 6pm tonight the Transport Minister, Gladys Berejiklian, will introduce herself to the second Sydney public forum into a new transport masterplan for the city and state.
The first forum last week at Milsons Point was attended by four members of the public and about 50 representatives from councils, advocacy groups and consultancies. While many appreciated their inclusion in the development, there remained scepticism about the process.
” I think they need to go into a lot more depth,” said Graeme Taylor of Action for Public Transport.
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”All we’ve seen is glossy documents … what they need to do is identify the funding obstacles that are going to be there.”
The president of Bike Sydney, David Borella, said he was encouraged by Ms Berejiklian’s participation. But he was not impressed when her sentiments were undermined a day later by the Premier, Barry O’Farrell, who declared he was not in favour of the City of Sydney’s bike lanes.
”I think the relatively low participation of the public reflects a disenchantment that is born out of the Premier’s posturing – on the one hand the transport minister is seeking to engage and … 12 hours later the Premier is saying ‘leave it to me’,” Mr Borella said.
Others at the forum questioned the role of Infrastructure NSW, the body chaired by former premier Nick Greiner, which will make its own recommendations.
Tonight’s forum at Sutherland Entertainment Centre, is one of four to be held in Sydney.