By ANNA USHER

North Sydney Council could pocket up to $200,000 to clear dumped Lime Bikes off its footpaths, under a $6.6 million state government crackdown that finally hands local councils the power to tame the e-bike chaos.

The Minns Government announced the Sharing Scheme Grant Program on Monday, giving councils the muscle to set “no-go” and “go-slow” zones, choose which operators can run in their area, and build marked parking bays at the kerb.

It is the change residents have been crying out for.

North Sydney is one of just 16 council areas in NSW hosting shared bike schemes, and few have felt the pain more sharply. When Lime arrived on the lower north shore in November 2024, residents erupted.

“Outlaw them,” Neutral Bay resident Victoria Houlder told Mosman Collective at the time. “They are a menace.”

Another local, Fiona Bailey, said the bikes had turned North Sydney streets into “a garbage tip”.

What the new powers actually do

Until now, councils have been almost powerless. North Sydney Rangers moved more than 100 Lime Bikes posing a safety risk in a single month, with the council warning it was “not resourced for these additional responsibilities”.

At the time, a North Sydney Council spokesperson was blunt about what was needed.

“We do need a change in NSW Government regulation,” the spokesperson told Mosman Collective. “Under current NSW Government legislation, our rangers can only impound bicycles after a 7-day observation period and 4-day notice period.”

That is the rule now being torn up.

Under the new framework, councils and government land managers will be able to set required parking zones and penalise operators who do not use them. Transport for NSW can revoke an operator’s approval and issue fines of up to $55,000 for ignoring a removal order, plus $5,500 for each day the offence continues.

The grants of up to $200,000 per application will pay for the marked bays and the zones. The whole program is funded by a 60-cent fee operators already pay to

Transport for NSW on every shared e-bike trip.

Why it matters here

The crackdown lands just as the bikes push deeper into the patch.

Mosman Collective revealed in May that Lime is poised to drift into Mosman, with the council’s own agenda papers conceding it has “almost no power” to refuse an approved operator under the new NSW laws.

The new rules give those councils something to fight back with – the right to pick their operator, lock parks and foreshores as no-go zones, and fine companies that leave bikes blocking the path.

Transport Minister John Graham said pedestrians had been ignored for too long.

“Pedestrians have been crying out for order and for their footpaths back – we’ve heard them and we’re responding with nation-leading rules,” he said.

Transport for NSW is aiming to deliver 250 parking bays for 2,500 shared e-bikes this year, with 62 already in the works.

Staged commencement of the new rules will roll out over the coming months. Whether North Sydney is first in line for a grant – and whether Mosman follows – will be the test locals are watching.