I have had one of those days to day and I don’t mean good. It all seems to happen at once. I am beginning to wonder if it is worth while staying in this job – while it does give me the opportunity to write this blog, it is becoming a drag.
Earlier in the week I contacted Sydney Water to find out what is happening regarding cycling access to the Airport (where I work). They are building a desalination plant at Kurnell (the firms involved including a Haliburton subsidiary have paid the necessary kickbacks AKA political donations to the NSW ALP and construction is underway) and are building pipelines from it to various parts of Sydney (instead of developing high quality water recycling that would produce potable drinking water we are going to waste more water and increase climate change through the construction of a desal facility!). I rang someone on a hot line at admittedly the ungodly hour of 20:00hrs who didn’t know anything about the project (they gave that number as a contact). After giving my details got a call from someone in Sydney Water’s “Community Relations” department who told me that access to the cycle path was going to be safe although there would be times when it would be regulated to ensure people were not mixing it with trucks.
To use a term from the Bosnian war Sydney water is out to “create facts on the ground ” with the plans saying one thing while their spin doctors say another. I will take some photos and take the camera to the next MASSBUG meeting in the faint hope that someone with a notebook computer will bring it and we will be able to put the word out. MASSBUG may also be able to do some lobbying and take some steps to ensure that Sydney Water is held to it’s word but being the pessimist that I am, I would say Sydney Water will fight us tooth and nail. However it is not the only cycling issue I have and will be tackling.
The joys of winter cycling have fallen upon me with the force of a Mack truck dropped from the Empire State Building and I am now getting used to the idea of having to ride in the early darkness. This has meant experimenting with lighting systems. I have fallen back in love with helmet lighting after having some success with a head light worn under the helmet which has provided some really good light. I was able to use it on the Cooks river run with some and was able to ride quite well with it under the visor of the helmet. It was a led light – the cheap one I bought from Kmart the day before the Great Escapade. It lit up the path brilliantly. It also worked in the problematic Centennial Park as I found I was able to see quite a lot with that light. I had experimented with it strapped to the helmet but found it was just as effective on my head under the visor of the helmet. I was able to hold a conversation with a lost runner and was able to read road signs as I went along. A unexpected byproduct of the helmet light was the number of people getting up to no good while they were on the Cooks River cycleway. People thinking that think the Cooks River Cycleway and the parks around it are the place to “Go for it” were given a surprise. The only problem is that I need to get a new head light as the old one has give up the ghost. It was a cheap Chinese import but boy did it work well. I will have to do some looking around for a new one although I doubt if I will find one as cheap as the one that has give up.
Things in Sydney are getting interesting. That is to say the least. The Power privatisation is going to go ahead and the government will sell the states electricity retailers and lease the generators (power stations etc) I doubt if this will increase the Greens vote in Sydney or if there will be any challenge to the NSW Labor govt. It is likely that the government will be out on it’s ear at the next election but what kind of govt replaces it is unknown. It has been announced in the papers that the proceeds will partially fund the M4 east which is going to be one of the most bitterly opposed projects in Sydney. It does have some possibilities for cycling but the long and the short is it will be a tunnel with stacks that will pollute the air (because the RTA won’t insist on them being filtered). Breathing Sydney’s air will be like standing in a pub full of smokers. I hope that Bicycle NSW, Local councils and BUGS get together and make the RTA and other authorities provide the missing links to so much of our cycling infrastructure instead of having bike lanes that disappear and dump cyclists on busy roads.
On the other had it is going to be sad to see so much of the state infastructure in the hands of private companies and what is more none of the proceeds will be spent in the areas where jobs will disappear. It is likely that it will be splurged on useless, meaningless bribes to buy the votes of people in Sydney electorates who won’t have to wonder if their jobs will be safe. The power bills will soar! Shame Morris shame!
