At the junction of Shelly Court and Shoalhaven Road in the Shearwater Estate in Cowes, there is a short public thoroughfare that separates traffic for motor vehicles and enables people to crossover on foot and on recreational vehicles.

However, the Bass Coast Shire has erected in May this year (2021) a total blockade to all recreational vehicles.  Unless you are on a bicycle and accompanied by a child aged 12 years or under, you have to dismount your bicycle and walk across, or continue to the busiest street in the Estate.  

The Bass Coast Shire initiated the blockade action because one resident complained of mud on the road caused by cyclists riding over soggy grass and continuing onto the road.  The problem is the ground surface, not the cyclists.  Mud on the road becomes a non-event with a hard surface/concrete path. 

A short straight bike path across the thoroughfare is the obvious solution to a public crossing point that should allow all cyclists to safely navigate through the Estate - without having to dismount. The Bass Coast Shire believes cyclists will create a dangerous situation crossing close to driveways. Shelly Court and Shoalhaven Road are extremely quiet streets. Cyclists are used to riding cautiously past driveways, and drivers would naturally check clearance before reversing out of driveways. 

 It is grossly unfair that recreational cyclists are being blocked from riding across this public thoroughfare because of one minor complaint.  The speed of cyclists crossing and entering adjacent streets is easily controlled by the installation on the cycle path of speed humps, obstructing bars and/or deep gutters.  All these speed control methods are used effectively throughout other estates, and bike paths, on Phillip Island.  This crossover point forms a link between cycle paths to Cowes central and Rhyll - where a connecting cycle path has been newly completed.

We call on the Bass Coast Shire to review this situation and create a short, straight bike path with suitable speed control methods.  Recreational cyclists should not be blockaded from riding across a public thoroughfare.  Phillip Island promotes itself as a recreational destination. The Bass Coast Shire should encourage the use of the cycle paths on Phillip Island by creating linkages, not blockades.