The proposed Blackwattle Bay Circular Walk. The blue line represents the proposed walk and the red line shows what is currently possible. (Image supplied by Janet Wahlquist)
The proposed Blackwattle Bay Circular Walk. The blue line represents the proposed walk and the red line shows what is currently possible. (Image supplied by Janet Wahlquist)

 

There have been calls for many years for a Foreshore Walk around Blackwattle Bay. A circular walk around the whole bay for pedestrians and cyclists would be an attractive and much needed active transport route. We have seen recently the desire of the community to walk, run and cycle and the more attractive that pathway is, the more used. The Bay Run walk around the Bay of Drummoyne and Leichhardt has been so popular and crowded during the coronavirus lockdown that the Mayors of Inner West and Canada Bay Councils were asking people to stay away and even had rangers turning people away. So why aren’t there proper plans for a walkway around Blackwattle Bay? There has been talk about extending the walk to the Fish Markets for years but this has not happened. The walkway/cycleway from Bicentennial Park on the foreshore of Annandale to Pyrmont Bridge Rd in Glebe is very well used and popular.

There are plans, still very much in the formative stages, for that walk to continue through the new Fish Markets and other proposed buildings and under the Anzac Bridge but there are important missing links. There are no plans to do what inner Sydney badly needs in the way of attractive walkways and that is to extend the walkway over the Glebe Island Bridge. Glebe Island Bridge is heritage-listed but unused and neglected, permanently open so the million-dollar boats parked at the Super Marina can easily get in and out. The bridge should be returned to operation so it can once again be opened and closed and used as a pedestrian/cycling pathway joining Pyrmont and Rozelle/Balmain. Presently a pedestrian or cyclist has to take a winding route onto and off Anzac Bridge which is less than peaceful.

From the Glebe Island bridge there should be a walkway along the foreshore to Bicentennial Park. Presently the pedestrian/cyclist on crossing the Anzac Bridge has to walk/cycle along James Craig Drive then the City West link and the busy Crescent. There are some plans for a new walkway along the Crescent. The waterfront land is publicly owned but privately leased to the Super Yacht Marina and another boat rental business.

Were the Glebe Island Bridge to be restored and renovated so it can open and close it would also provide a much-needed pedestrian/cycle link to Rozelle and Balmain. Presently it is a heritage-listed bridge heading toward demolition by neglect. Why is it not being restored and used? One can’t help but wonder if it is the influence of the Super Yacht Marina with their millions of dollars’ worth of boats that prefer the convenience of a permanently open bridge for when they decide to take their big boats out.

It is time Government started to take action to create more active transport routes and a Blackwattle Bay circuit is an obvious one.

Janet Wahlquist
Convenor, Traffic & Transport