If you walk your kids to school, pound the streets with your pooch or head to your neighbourhood shops for groceries or a coffee, chances are you’re familiar with your local footpaths. 

But unless you spot a newly laid surface, an uneven path or notice a gap between 2 parts of the pavement, chances are you’ve never given them much thought: until now. 

Footpaths make it easier and safer for us all to get around on foot, and for parents with kids and those under 16 year on a bike. Their upkeep and improvement is managed by Council in line with the Northern Beaches Walking Plan, which was adopted in 2019.

Each financial year Council develops a program of works for footpaths based on this plan. From the hundreds of requests received from you, the criteria helps identify and prioritise locations where improving the local walking network will be most useful: 

• Land use - proximity to shops, main streets, hospitals, recreational facilities, parks and schools.
• Safety - are they hazardous or have had previous pedestrian-related accidents?
• Continuity - footpaths that close missing links or complete the footpath network.
• Traffic impact – busy roads and higher speed limits increase the need to separate pedestrians and vehicles.
• Proximity to public transport - transport hubs, ferry terminals, B1 bus routes and the local bus network.

The purpose of the plan is not only to create a more walkable and connected community, but to increase walking as a form of transport, encourage a healthy lifestyle and create vibrant places for pedestrians.

The aim is to support the community, to double existing 'active travel' trips and reduce car trips by 30%. 

This financial year Council has already built 1.6km of new footpaths in the following locations:

• Queens Parade West, Newport
• Adams Street, Curl Curl 
• Dalley Street, Queenscliff
• Darley Street, Forestville
• Bennelong Street, Seaforth  
• Smith Avenue, Allambie Heights
• Wollstonecraft Avenue, Avalon Beach
• Alfred Street, Cromer

Over the coming months, residents near Boomerang Road, Collaroy Plateau and Kambora Avenue, Davidson will be getting new footpaths too.

For more information on footpaths visit our website and to see proposed footpaths and those under construction, visit Council’s YourSay webpage.