The Borough of Queenscliffe has listened to concerns raised by its community and shelved plans to become the first 30km/h municipality.
During its August 23 meeting, the borough announced that the reduced speed limit trial across Queenscliff would not go ahead following a community consultation period.
Close to 79 per cent of people objected to the Draft Active Transport Strategy’s (ATS) proposal, and a petition opposing the trial was created, which attracted 2,179 signatures.
Chief executive Martin Gill said the council had done its best to listen to all the views and concerns raised by the Queenscliff community.
“The revised ATS does not include any strategies that would see the implementation of a 30km/h speed limit across the municipality,” he said.
“The proposal to trial a 30km speed limit in parts of the borough has also been removed in response to community feedback.”
The ATS still references the 30km/h speed limit on pages 59 and 60, which outline that the reduced speed limit would only be implemented where pedestrian safety is at risk.
“Neither of these references indicate that council intends to or is committed to the implementation of a 30km speed limit across the municipality,” Mr Gill said.
“The ATS does acknowledge however in one statement that there are circumstances where ensuring the safety of pedestrians may require the reduction of speed limits.”
Mr Gill said that the petition received by the council during the consultation process identified that a speed limit reduction proposed in the ATS to 30km/h was “not asked for or needed”.
The draft ATS featuring the proposed speed change was initially endorsed by the council on February 22 and placed on public exhibition for 28 days in April.
Borough councillors decided to defer the decision on whether to adopt the updated ATS plan during its August meeting, with the outcome to be determined at a future meeting.
