Community and Stakeholder Engagement Report Northern Beaches Bike Plan (Stage 2 of 2) Impact level: One Report date: 01 June 2020 Contents 1. Summary ................................................................................................................................ 3 1.1. Who we engaged ................................................................................................................ 3 1.2. How we engaged ................................................................................................................ 4 2. Background ............................................................................................................................ 5 3. Engagement approach - stage two ......................................................................................... 5 3.1. Engagement objectives ....................................................................................................... 5 3.2. Engagement methodology .................................................................................................. 5 3.3. Engagement activities ......................................................................................................... 6 4. Findings ................................................................................................................................. 7 5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 12 6. Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 13 7. Appendix .............................................................................................................................. 13 Appendix 1 - Online Live Question and Answer Sessions ............................................................... 14 Appendix 2 - Your Say Submissions (sorted by Bike Plan Directions) ............................................. 23 Appendix 3 - Your Say Submission form attachments................................................................... 132 Appendix 4 - Submissions via Email ............................................................................................. 178 1. Summary1 Project Title Insert here Impact Level 1 Stage(s) 2 of 2 stages Consultation Period Saturday 29 February to Sunday 17 May 2020 Version 1.0 Status Draft Related Projects MOVE - Northern Beaches Transport Strategy - adopted This report details the community and stakeholder engagement findings the public exhibition of the draft Northern Beaches Council Bike Plan. This report represents what Council has heard as accurately, comprehensively and transparently as possible by using consistent quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques. The reports content reflects the insights of 12,770 participating community members and stakeholders. 1.1. Who we engaged2 12,770 696 Total engaged Total submissions Male Female 57% 39% 3%1% N/A Gender Other id. 26-50 yrs 51-75 yrs 36% 45% 6% 12% 76+ yrs Age group(s) N/A 1 Community and stakeholder views contained in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Northern Beaches Council or indicate a commitment to a particular course of action. 2 No demographic data was captured for respondents who contributed feedback through the online Q&A sessions. Community and Stakeholder Engagement Report Page 3 of 200 Northern Beaches Bike Plan 12% 11% 11% 10% 9% 8% 6% 6% 5% 5% Postcodes 4% (51 postcodes 2% in total) 0% 2093 2095 2096 2097 2099 2101 • Safety • Security • Separated • Funding cycleways/shared paths • Education Feedback • Infrastructure quality and themes maintenance • Connectivity/missing links 1.2. How we engaged Visits: Visitors: 8,905 Av. time onsite: 1m30s 11,232 Have Your Say Reach: 45,496 Facebook Post: 3 Clicks: 961 Social media Video: 1 Views: 813 Videos Manly Daily: 3 ads Media Release: 1 Distribution: 236,000 Site signs: Yes Number: 20 Print media and collateral Collateral availability: Customer Number: 4 Service Centres Community Eng. newsletter: 3 Distribution: 20,000 Council eNews: 2 Distribution: 410,768 3 EDM(s) Stakeholder email: 3 Distribution: 150 3 Electronic direct mail Community and Stakeholder Engagement Report Page 4 of 200 Northern Beaches Bike Plan 2. Background The Northern Beaches Bike Plan guides future infrastructure and programs that will encourage more people to consider riding a bicycle for transport more often. The Bike Plan also aims to create a safer environment for people cycling on both paths and roads. Engagement was carefully planned to seek feedback during key stages of the plan’s development. The purpose of the engagement was to ensure we developed a bike plan that met the needs of our community. A two-staged engagement approach was proposed to ensure we gathered broader ideas, suggestions, concerns and issues prior to developing a comprehensive draft plan. The draft was placed on public exhibition to ensure the community were satisfied with our approach including the planned directions and actions. This report details the approach taken and findings from the second stage of community engagement. 3. Engagement approach - stage two The Bike Plan community engagement was planned, implemented and reported in accordance with Council’s Community Engagement Matrix (2017). A documented engagement methodology is outlined in the Bike Plan Community and Stakeholder Engagement Plan (November 2018). The approach provided our community with clear and consistent information, and easy and accessible ways to provide feedback. The draft Bike Plan and associated engagement activities were promoted online, print, social media channels to gain broad community awareness of the project. 3.1. Engagement objectives • Determine level of community support for the Bike Plan • Raise awareness of and provide opportunities to provide feedback on the draft Bike Plan • Confirm whether the community’s concerns and cycling requirements identified in stage 1 were satisfactorily addressed in the draft Bike Plan. 3.2. Engagement methodology Community and stakeholder engagement for this stage was conducted over eleven weeks, from 29 February to 17 May 2020. The draft plan was originally placed on public exhibition for 28 days. A series of five face to face (drop in) sessions were also planned. Following federal and state government guidelines to limit public gatherings and practice safe social distancing, Council made the decision in March to cancel the planned drop in session and extend the public exhibition to 3 May. A subsequent decision was made by staff to extend the exhibition further to 17 May. Community and Stakeholder Engagement Report Page 5 of 200 Northern Beaches Bike Plan 3.3. Engagement activities Engagement consisted of a series of activities that provided opportunities for community and stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft bike plan. Engagement activity Overview Have Your Say (online) Have Your Say Northern Beaches was used to conduct online engagement. It provided a portal for our community and stakeholders view information and provide feedback. 8,865 visitors viewed the project page 11,044 times. Average time onsite was approximately 1.5 minutes. Submission Form The form was divided into four sections associated with the Directions in the draft plan: 1. Safe Cycling Network. 2. Road Safety Network. 3. End-of-trip facilities. 4. Cycling Promotion. The submission form was designed to provide participants with an opportunity to add their comments, concerns and priorities separately for each Direction. There were 696 submission forms completed, covering a range of themes including safety, cycle paths, signage, funding, education, enforcement and others. See Section 4 for the detailed findings. Online Questions and Face-to-face sessions planned which were cancelled due to social Answer (Q&A) Forum distancing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two live online question and answer forums were held which provided participants with an almost immediate responses to their questions. There were 156 visitors to the Q&A page over the two sessions, with 72 contributions received. See Appendix 1 for details of questions received and answers provided. Social media Three posts were published on Facebook on 9 March, 5 and 11 May. Key analytics include a total reach of 45,496, with an average of 961 click through rate, 464 comments and reactions. Video One promotional video produced and uploaded to Your Say, Council ENews and Facebook – viewed 813 times. Print media Use of three ads and one media release to the Manly Daily, distributed to over 230,000 people provided a large distribution to raise project awareness and community interest. Electronic direct mail Project was included in three Northern Beaches Community (EDMs) Engagement Newsletters. With a distribution list of over 20,000, this activity increased awareness and drove traffic to the project landing- page, essential documentation and engagement tools. Council also sent three email updates to approximately 50 community members. Community and Stakeholder Engagement Report Page 6 of 200 Northern Beaches Bike Plan 4. Findings Direction 1: Expand, improve and maintain the Safe Cycling Network Do you support expanding our Safe Cycling Network? Yes 88% No 5% Unsure 4% Netural 3% Theme Comment summary Council’s response General support Overall, an average of 88% of The majority of favourable respondents support the draft sentiment for the draft plan Bike Plan and the