By ALESHA CAPONE
HOBSONS Bay City Council spends $3.42 on bicycling infrastructure for every resident within the municipality, according to a new report.
Last week Bicycle Network Victoria released its 2012 BiXE (Bicycle Expenditure Index) which surveyed 100 councils across Australia.
The report found Hobsons Bay City Council spent $3.42 for every resident on cycling-related infrastructure during the past 12 months.
This was based on the council’s committed bicycling expenditure of $302,000 and a population of 88,335.
The survey said additional cycling spending sourced from external grants and funds might apply but was outside the report’s scope.
The BiXE study said 46 per cent of Australian councils met the threshold requirement of $5 per resident which “indicates that a municipality has a meaningful commitment to building bicycle infrastructure”.
However the Hobsons Bay City Council’s acting director of works and assets, Marg Scanlon, said the council provided information for the BiXE report.
“Based on that information, the report found the council spends $3.42 per resident on cycling,” she said.
“This figure is in fact a minimum spend and does not take into account routine maintenance and several large scale projects, such as the Skeleton Creek underpass, that would add more than $1 million to the council’s expenditure.”
Ms Scanlon said the council was committed to improving its cycling networks and has advocated to other levels of government for assistance to achieve this.
She said the council had allocated $35,000 to implement its bike plan, $30,000 for trail infrastructure and $90,000 for the Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail in the 2012-’13 budget.
“We are currently undertaking a review of our existing bicycle strategy,” she said.
“This will be tabled at a future council meeting. The strategy will identify gaps in current infrastructure and will provide an opportunity for the community to comment.”
