CoN Lord Mayor Candidates for the 2026 by-election: their vision for active transport
- 22 hours ago
- 7 min read
Newcastle Cycleways Movement emailed each candidate in the 2026 mayoral by-election for the City of Newcastle, asking the candidate for their vision of active transport for Newcastle.
Here we reproduce the email that we sent to all the candidates, and the responses we received in the order of receipt.
NCM's email to the candidates
Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:54:44 +1100
Subject: Active transport - your vision for Newcastle
From: Neville Jones
Dear Lord Mayor Candidate,
I’m writing to you as President of the Newcastle Cycleways Movement ahead of the upcoming City of Newcastle mayoral by-election.
We’re keen to understand your position on bike riding and other forms of active transport as an important part of Newcastle's future, and - just as importantly - your willingness to act toward that goal.
Newcastle has made progress in recent years, but too often we see momentum stall at the point of additional studies, strategies, and consultation. While planning is important, our members and the broader community are increasingly looking for leadership that delivers tangible, on-the-ground improvements.
We would appreciate your response to the following:
What is your vision for bike riding in Newcastle over the next 5 to 10 years?
How do you see cycling contributing to broader outcomes such as congestion reduction, public health, cost of living, and climate resilience?
What specific infrastructure improvements would you prioritise if elected?
What will you do to accelerate delivery against the Council's 'On our bikes 2021-2030' Cycling Plan, which NCM fears will not meet its objectives by 2030?
We’re particularly interested in practical commitments, such as creating low-traffic and low-speed neighbourhoods, reallocating road space, fast-tracking separated cycleways, improving connections to schools and local centres, or embedding active transport into all major projects.
Newcastle is well positioned to become a genuinely bike-friendly city. With the right leadership, we can create a safer, more connected network that encourages more people of all ages and abilities to ride.
We intend to share candidate responses with our members and the wider community to help inform voters ahead of the by-election.
Thank you for your time, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Neville Jones
President
Newcastle Cycleways Movement
Responses
Charlotte McCabe of the Newcastle Greens
From: charlotte mccabe
Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2026 22:39:39 -0700
Hi Neville,
Thank you for your email.
Having lived in Melbourne and Darwin where I relied almost entirely on my bike for transport, I could immediately see that Newcastle has the perfect conditions for cyclists, but just lacks the infrastructure to allow people to feel safe enough to choose riding as their mode of transport.
The Newcastle Greens have a local policy on transport, including cycling here
I have also included public and active transport as one of my three key policy platforms for this by-election, which you can see here
This term, Greens councillors secured a budget commitment of 20% of the transport budget for active transport investment.
My hope is to continue to increase the budget allocation each year for cycleways which means finalising detailed design, as well as delivering the infrastructure. If we can secure more state and federal grants to assist us with this, the delivery will be much quicker. There are some important sections ready to deliver, like the extension of the hunter street cyclway, but they need to wait for other street infrastructure decisions. My priority for Ward 1 is the Selwyn Street rail bridge. If elected Lord Mayor, I will priorotise an agreement with the state government and ARTC about improving cycling and pedestrian crossing for this bridge.
I generally support the cycleways plan and I just want to see the existing pieces of separated cycleway connected.
The plan also allocates streets as slow vehicle speed streets and other treatments to make cycling safer.
I'm sure you're aware of this, but here's the cycling plan:
Thanks again,
Charlotte
Declan Clausen of Newcastle Labor
From: declan
Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2026 07:59:20 +1100
Hi Neville
Thank you for your email, and for the ongoing work of the Newcastle Cycleways Movement in advocating for better active transport across our city.
I’m a strong supporter of active and public transport, and this has been a consistent focus of my work as a Councillor, as well as through my studies in sustainable urban development. Across literally hundreds of planning and infrastructure decisions I’ve made over the years, I’ve consistently supported New(castle) Urbanism, sensible densification, and improving walking and cycling outcomes in Newcastle.
Importantly, I’ve also worked to deliver projects on the ground. This includes progressing initiatives like the Maud Street crossing, the Chinchen Street traffic lights, protecting the Jesmond cycleway through the Inner City Bypass, and leading the Streets as Shared Spaces trials on Darby and Hunter Streets. My approach has always been to move beyond strategy and into delivery.
Looking ahead 5 to 10 years, my vision is for a more connected, safer and more usable active transport network, one that allows people of all ages and abilities to move around Newcastle without needing to rely on a car for every trip. Cycling has a clear role to play in reducing congestion, improving public health, lowering transport costs for households, and contributing to our emissions reduction goals.
A big part of making that vision real is getting the basics right, and from my perspective, that must start with footpaths. I have made a clear commitment to double Council’s investment in footpaths, deliver 30km of new footpath, and continue to grow that funding over time.
Just as importantly, I’ve led the shift toward a more strategic, data-led approach to footpath delivery. That means moving away from “squeaky wheel” decision-making based on complaints alone, and instead prioritising missing links and key connections, linking people to transport nodes like bus stops and train stations, including places like Kotara, as well as schools, shopping centres, parks and local centres. This is critical work if we are serious about making active transport a viable, everyday option for Novocastrians.
That said, I’m also pragmatic about where Newcastle is today. We are not yet well connected by safe, continuous cycling infrastructure, and that remains a major barrier to uptake. Retrofitting an existing city as old as Newcastle is challenging, and requires sustained investment, particularly from the State and Federal Governments who control many of the key corridors.
In the short term, that means doing two things at once. Continuing to invest in and expand the cycling network, while also ensuring the existing transport system works as effectively as possible. That’s why I’ve also put forward practical policies to improve parking turnover in the CBD. There’s no silver bullet here, but we need a system that works better overall.
In terms of priorities, one of the most important gaps I hear about, particularly in my current role as a Ward 1 Councillor, is the lack of safe and direct connections between the city and Mayfield. For many residents west of Islington, this is a key reason they don’t ride. Improving this corridor will require strong collaboration with State and Federal partners, and it’s something I’m committed to continuing to advocate for.
More broadly, I support continuing to deliver separated cycleways where feasible, improving connections to schools and local centres, and embedding active transport into all major infrastructure and urban renewal projects from the outset, rather than as an afterthought.
On the delivery side, I agree that momentum can stall. My focus as Lord Mayor would be on maintaining clear priorities, ensuring projects are properly scoped and funded, and working across the chamber to secure the votes needed to get them delivered. I have the demonstrated track record of building that support and getting projects through Council.
Finally, I’ve long supported the Richmond Vale Rail Trail and the broader opportunity around the Shiraz to Shore concept. These projects have the potential to deliver real economic, tourism and community benefits, while also connecting people to incredible assets like our RAMSAR-listed wetlands. I was actually due to ride the Otago Rail Trail in New Zealand over Easter prior to the by-election being called, and I’ve seen firsthand the value these kinds of investments can bring to regional communities.
During my time on Council, Newcastle has made progress, but I agree that there is more to do. My commitment is to keep moving from plans to delivery, and to do so in a way that is practical, collaborative, and achievable.
I appreciate the opportunity to outline my position, and I look forward to continuing the conversation.
Kind regards
Declan
Steve O'Brien of the Socialist Alliance
From: Newcastle Socialists
Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2026 13:11:25 +1000
Hi Neville
My responses below, I tried to be brief
What is your vision for bike riding in Newcastle over the next 5 to 10 years?
I share your vision for Newcastle as an active transport and livable city activist. I like the fact that your group sees cycling as part of an integrated system of transport where everyone is just a few hundred meters from safe efficient and cheap transport, especially cycleways. I’ll be asking for information about what funding has been allocated for the cycle plan.
How do you see cycling contributing to broader outcomes such as congestion reduction, public health, cost of living, and climate resilience?
Cycling clearly contributes to reducing traffic congestion, public health, cost of living, and climate resilience and is very cost effective.
What specific infrastructure improvements would you prioritise if elected?
I would take advice from organisations such as yours as I want to bring Council closer to the community.
What will you do to accelerate delivery against the Council's 'On our bikes 2021-2030' Cycling Plan, which NCM fears will not meet its objectives by 2030?
As Lord Mayor I will ask
· Does the Council’s cycling reference group deal with serious issues including those of governance issues?
· How often does the reference group meet?
· What actions listed under each objective of the plan been realised?
· What is the current reporting on the measures/indicators for participation (mode share/diversity), safety and comfort and attitudes?
· How many meters of cycleways have been delivered, what are users saying?
Has money for cycling been spent as promised, or is cycling just a convenient excuse to lift rates?
· What is the budget for cycleways, what budget is projected over the ten years of the plan, what has been spent so far?
· What possibilities are there to obtain more funding from external sources?
I agree Newcastle is well positioned to become a genuinely bike-friendly city.
Council leadership, however, needs to go beyond tick and flick consultation, it needs to listen to the community and move away from corporate style neo liberal governance which stifles community initiatives.
The light rail for example cost well over half a billion dollars (and you aren’t even supposed to take a bike on it). In contrast cycling is much more efficient is of dollar spent. $150 million over ten years would see Newcastle on the way to having a well-connected safe and accessible system.
I want to see action on cycling not just glossy plans, clear funding sources and expenditure.
Local government is supposed to be the level closest to the people so it should be closer to the people and not more distant and less democratic.
Thank you for your invitation to respond to these great questions
With my best regards
Steve O'Brien
Socialist Alliance candidate for Lord Mayor of Newcastle
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