2022, February
Traffic Management Plan Update - Conditional Registration
After a follow-up by the SIRA Roads Sub-committee Transport NSW (TfNSW) advised that they were aiming to have an outcome prior to October 2022. SIRA will monitor progress and encourage an outcome even sooner.
With confusion continuing as to the current state of play of Conditional Registration for Scotland Island, SIRA shared resident concerns withTransport NSW and requested a response for clarity. You can read the response here (Response to Scotland Island Residents Association Feb 22).
2021, December
TMP on hold
Following up on concerns raised by some members of the community the Scotland Island Traffic Management Plan was placed on hold and to be reviewed by Transport NSW (TfNSW).
The first and most important part of the review process was a visit to the Island which took place on the 6th of December, delegations from TfNSW, Broken Bay Water Police, NBC Council and SIRA Roads Sub-committee met and walked around the Island including the area of the recent buggy accident.
Observations of road conditions registered and unregistered vehicles, the wide range of differing vehicles as well as roadside vehicle parking platforms were noted, and many photos were taken.
After the walking tour the attendees discussed the next steps involved in this process. TfNSW will be conducting internal discussions with several departments including Centre for Road Safety and Legal. It was advised that the first steps in this process would be to understand what types of vehicles and speed limits are safe for these road conditions and then what actions and conditions would need to be applied to achieve conditional registration. It was mentioned that NSW Conditional Registration is currently being reviewed and TfNSW may need to consider a Scotland Island specific conditional registration code.
For more information, please read this related document (Dec 6 2021).
2020, July
Scotland Island Traffic Management Plan
The Scotland Island Road Reserve Strategy (SIRRS) recommended adoption of a Traffic Management Plan for the Island (pp. 38-39). Specific recommendations for this plan were taken from the results of a survey conducted by SIRA in July 2000 (see SIRRS Appendix D), including the provision that ‘Island roads should be closed and re-opened under Council control, with permits and regulations controlling vehicle numbers, weights, speeds etc.’
Council staff has now put forward two proposals, one to designate all Island roads as ‘Shared Zone’ with a 10 kph speed limit, the other to manage the numbers and types of vehicles on the Island through council permits. A council survey in March 2014 showed support for the speed limit proposal, which has now been approved by council and sent to RMS for approval. The survey indicated concerns about the ‘road closure’ proposal, so council staff will engage in additional community consultation before any further action is taken.
Council Traffic Management Plan documents may be accessed here.
2011, July
The Roads and Drainage Master Plan
After years of consultation and discussion, on July 18, 2011, the former Pittwater Council adopted a Master Plan consisting of these documents:
- Scotland Island Road Reserves and Stormwater Report (Pittwater Council) (June 2011);
- Scotland Island Road Reserve Strategy (September 2009);
- Scotland Island Road Reserve Strategy Accompanying Maps (September 2009);
- Scotland Island Stormwater Management Strategy (June 2011); and
- Scotland Island Road Reserve & Stormwater Management Implementation Plan (June 2011).
The Special Rate Variation adopted that same year provides $100,000 per year (indexed) for 10 years for capital improvements to the Island’s roads. The hope that Pittwater Council could attract additional funding through state and federal grants has not yet been realised.
The Roads & Drainage Subcommittee has worked closely with council staff each year to identify the highest priority capital improvement projects to be implemented within the budget constraints. These have focussed on improving drainage to reduce erosion and subsequent surface deterioration and pollution (siltation) of Pittwater.