The Hobart City Council has been told to pencil in a series of possible dates for a public meeting to discuss the installation of cycle lanes on both sides of Collins Street.
A petition by the Confederation of Greater Hobart Business calling for the meeting, which could lead to an elector poll, will be presented to councillors at their next meeting on Tuesday.
1,760 signatures have so far been passed onto the council, but just 970 of the required 1,000 meet the criteria set by the Local Government Act.
Some entries were duplicates, others were missing addresses and nearly 300 signatories did not appear on the City of Hobart Electoral or General Manager’s rolls.
The petition’s supporters are advocating to ‘save the street’ and retain 49 parking spaces that would otherwise be removed as part of the two-year trial bike lane trial.
According to council staff, there is no time limit for the Confederation to provide the additional 30 signatures needed to meet the threshold.
At Tuesday’s meeting, councillors will be recommended to formally accept the petition, while staff begin preparations for a public meeting “in the expectation that the 1,000 signatory threshold will be satisfied in the near term”.
“At the present time, council simply needs to table and ‘note’ the petition in accordance with Section 58 as it fails to meet the statutory threshold required for the calling of a public meeting,” staff wrote in their report.
“However, prudence would dictate that officers commence the process of ‘pencil booking’ of a series of dates for an appropriate venue and facilitating the development of the associated materials required for the public meeting as the relevant statutory threshold will most likely be met in the near term.”
A tender to undertake “construction of bicycle facilities and corresponding infrastructure along Collins Street” was advertised by the council earlier this month and has yet to be publicly awarded.
