NORTH SYDNEY TRANSPORT STUDY: AN EXERCISE IN COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

North Sydney Council has an unparalleled system for involving the public in its planning through a series of precincts which have been created for this purpose. Building on this system a comprehensive 12 month transport study of the council area was undertaken by a consortium of consultants with the objectives of identifying traffic calming measures, preparing a works program and setting up an ongoing community based transport plan reviewsystem. This paper presents the study method and the lessons that were learnt, and assesses the influence of community participation on the technical aspects of the final study recommendations. The study involved regular liaison with 25 precinct committees, questionnaires to 28,000 households, public meetings, discussion with various pressure groups and presentations to Councillors, as well as a series of traffic and parking surveys. The study process casts light on the vexed issues of getting people to appreciate other's problems and of negotiating common solutions to competing interests. (a) For the covering abstract of this conference see IRRD abstract no. 861222.