By ANNA USHER

A controversial bike path between Neutral Bay and Mosman will go ahead after North Sydney councillors voted 6-3 to back it, with Mayor Zoe Baker driving the plan through over a packed gallery of Harrison St locals who pleaded with the council to dump it.

Residents from Harrison St, Wycombe Rd, Barry St and Yeo St crowded Monday’s public forum, warning the 1.5km cycleway would strip their parking, choke emergency access and force through a plan they say they were never properly shown.

The parking backfire

Council’s consultation page had promised “no net loss of parking overall”, with 59 spaces simply relocated. The endorsed plan instead strips out 68 kerbside spaces and hands back 57 on nearby streets, a net loss of 11.

Yeo St wears the heaviest hit by far. About 35 spaces vanish between Bent St and Wycombe Rd, with only three coming back, as an eastbound traffic lane and the kerb give way to the two-way path on the approach to Wycombe Rd. Harrison St loses about 21 more, roughly 10 of them paved into new green space at the Rangers Rd end, which shuts to cars for good. Harrison St stays two-way but narrows, and Barry St flips to one-way northbound to claw back 24 bays.

Bus stops and turns go too

Two bus stops on Spofforth St will also go, pulled from the 225 route to make room for parking and a new pedestrian and cyclist crossing. Drivers lose the peak-hour right turn at Yeo St and Wycombe Rd, buses excepted, and a part-time right-turn ban from Spofforth St into Cranbrook Ave becomes permanent.

The route runs Yeo St, Wycombe Rd, Harrison St, Rangers Rd and Spofforth St, part of Route 5 in the council’s Bike Action Plan adopted last October. Council says the separated path, wider footpaths, new crossings and 10 new trees will make the ride to Neutral Bay Public School and Redlands safer for children.

“It’s dangerous”

Locals were not convinced. Sarah, speaking for about 60 residents at 21 Harrison St, said they learned of the final report just six days before the vote. Another Harrison St resident, John, called the plan “impractical and unworkable” and said losing 22 bays “simply doesn’t make sense”. The chair of the Harrison-Bennett Precinct told council she had counted “16 DAs in the pipeline amounting to over 1,500 car spaces” the traffic modelling ignored.

Councillor Jessica Keen moved to defer for a traffic study and safety audit, warning the design would trap fire engines leaving and entering the Yeo St station.

“There is absolutely no way a fire engine is going to be able to get into the fire station… if you put a bike lane there. It’s dangerous,” she said. Councillors James Spenceley and Efi Carr backed her, Spenceley blasting the plan as “not good governance”. Baker ruled the deferral out on procedural grounds.

Baker holds firm

The mayor defended the consultation and pointed to North Sydney’s target of 5,900 new dwellings by 2029, arguing safe cycling routes matter more as density climbs. Councillor Beregi’s amendment backing the project, seconded by Councillor Hoy, carried 6-3.

The $366,275 design bill is mostly state money, but the $6.8 million build is not yet funded and hinges on a fresh state grant. The final design still needs traffic committee and Transport for NSW sign-off, with construction no earlier than 2028.