“Ridiculous”: Cammeray woman’s fury after her bicycle is given seizure notice.

By ANNA USHER

Following a Mosman Collective social media campaign, North Sydney Council will install new bicycle ring parking at Folly Point.

Natasha Usmar, 39, recently parked her bike on Cowdroy Rd and was shocked to find a seizure notice stuck on the wheel, threatening to confiscate the bike if it wasn’t removed.

‘If this item remains, the North Sydney Council intends to take it in its possession after 5 pm on 18/11/23,’ the notice stated.

A puzzled Usmar contacted the council, and they informed her she could not attach her bike to council property. Instead, she was advised to use designated council bike racks to secure her wheels.

“So, my bicycle just got a seizure notice because it’s tied up here to the North Sydney Council property, but there’s nowhere to park my bike,” she said in a TikTok video posted on Mosman Collective’s Instagram page.

“So how am I supposed to get from A to B?”

“All the cars get spots. There are heaps of car spots but nowhere to park my bike.

“And apparently all the people who live around here complain because it’s, like, disrupting their well-being or whatever. I just think it’s ridiculous.”

Ms Usmar explained that she cannot store the bike on her compact wooden boat due to the limited space, and she finds it challenging to transport the bike from the boat to the land using a kayak or a tinnie. 

“I put it there on that strip because it’s out of the way, and the cars aren’t allowed to park on that spot, so it’s not affecting any of the people parking or driving around,” she said.

“I didn’t really understand why anyone would have a problem with it.”

She said that the two closest council bike racks to her home are a 20-30-minute walk away, meaning it would add an extra hour to her commute and “defeat the purpose” of using a bike instead of walking.

In response to Natasha’s call for help and following our social media campaign, North Sydney Council has confirmed it will install new bicycle ring parking at Folly Point after three seizure notices were issued on Tuesday, 14 November.

All had been observed for 28 days before they were notified to move.

“Council provides bike parking across the North Sydney local government area, and our website invites residents to tell us where and what type of bike parking they think is needed,” a spokesperson told Mosman Collective.

“We review all recommendations when allocating budget for new bicycle infrastructure.


Council said there are 26 bike racks in North Sydney LGA, and only four bikes had been impounded since the beginning of the year.

“To assist residents and visitors in finding a bicycle parking, we have a map of all bike racks in the Council area on our website,” the spokesperson said, “The nearest bike parking to Folly Point is three blocks along Cammeray Road towards Green Park. There is also a bike rack in Tunks Park.”

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