How can cycling be made better in city?

A 10-year roadmap for the development of infrastructure for cyclists and other activities on wheels has been adopted by the Rural City of Wangaratta Council. Wheeled activities in the plan include mountain biking, road cycling, gravel riding, track cycling, BMX, skateboarding, scootering, inline skating, roller sports, adaptive cycling, wheelchair sports, roller skiing, and shared-use trails. Key feedback from community consultation found the city lacked dedicated mountain bike facilities especially for beginners, and there were safety concerns for road cyclists, due to narrow road shoulders and poor connectivity. Desired improvement of signage and connectivity to the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail and townships was voiced, and a limited provision of dirt jumps, skateparks, and pump tracks outside Wangaratta's urban area was highlighted. There isn't a dedicated facility for roller sports either, despite strong local participation in inline hockey and roller derby, with the strategy noting that existing venues possess limited suitability and lack key infrastructure to fully support activities. It also identified the need for upgrades to tennis facilities and shared-use trails to improve all-abilities access. During the initial stages of the strategy's development, extensive community consultation was undertaken, including 113 responses to an online survey of residents and user groups, 16 people attended two in-person community workshops in Wangaratta and Whitfield, two people attended an online community workshop, a drop-in session at Mitchell Avenue Skatepark was held, and eight key stakeholder interviews were conducted. "Feedback was received and it indicated safer and better connect cycling routes, improved signage and pathway accessibility, while also expressing that additional support was required to increase awareness and participation in events, social riding and family friendly programs," council director of community and infrastructure Marcus Goonan told the June ordinary council meeting. Thanks and appreciation towards everyone who participated in the survey and provided feedback was expressed by Cr Ashlee Fitzpatrick. Cr Tania Maxwell said there was a lot of work put into the strategy and without the community feedback it can be difficult to understand what the community needs and wants. "We are on an extremely tight budget and I am sure that council will continue to revisit this strategy to ensure that we can enable measures to be able to move forward with this strategy and to implement things where necessary, whether it be infrastructure or supporting our cyclists to continue to bike around this beautiful North East," Cr Maxwell said.

How can cycling be made better in city?

Wangaratta Chronicle, Wednesday, 9 September, 2026

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