Cr Penny Wolff

Chris, Anna and Michael from Brisbane West BUG met with Cr Penny Wolff, who is up for election as the LNP candidate for Walter Taylor Ward. Penny, who was appointed as Councillor in October 2023 after James Mackay resigned due to health issues, used to love riding, but has been unable to since suffering a spinal injury some years ago. However, she was generous with her time at Bean on Dean in Toowong, just up the hill from the Western Freeway bikeway on a drizzly morning.

Michael told Penny about how he rides to school and the shops with his two children on his cargo bike, and how he wants his eldest, who is now riding themselves, to be able to ride independently to school and the local park, but doesn’t feel safe to do so. Anna talked of her early culture shock when moving to Brisbane from Germany and expecting to be able to easily ride to work only to be confronted with busy roads and hostile drivers.

Penny was aware of the BikeSpot survey that highlighted a number of locations in Walter Taylor ward that were flagged as unsafe, and had made enquiries with Brisbane City Council to find out more about them. She advised that a number of items are being addressed by projects underway or high priority for planning. This included Sylvan Road, the Archer Street intersection on the Bicentennial Bikeway, and the Indooroopilly Riverwalk connection to the Centenary Bikeway. The Riverwalk connection is the most advanced, however, still a year or so away from completing planning work which is disappointing given the Riverwalk opened in 2021 and the Indooroopilly Bikeway from the Centenary Bikeway to St Lucia Esplanade was proposed in 2016.

The group also explained how public attitudes towards cycling and active transport can be problematic and lead to unsafe behaviour by some motorists, and that it’s really important for Brisbane City Council to be positive in its portrayal of active transport, bikeway projects and safer street designs. Penny agreed, and visits school P&Cs and urges them to encourage active school travel.