NEWS
Residents of New Farm and neighbouring suburbs wanting to access the city by bike now face an even bigger uphill battle following the loss of RiverWalk in January's floods.
They had relied on the walkway under the Story Bridge to get to the CBD but that has now been closed off due to the risk of falling rocks. And their plight may be prolonged by a stoush over who should make it safe.
Local Councillor David Hinchliffe (Central Ward) says the Medina Hotel and Brisbane City Council have closed the walkway “for maintenance”, forcing cyclists to carry their bikes up stairs. And he’s hopping mad over it.
“No one in council had the courtesy to let me know or to put up signs explaining in detail why.
“I’ve found out from the Medina Hotel management that the bikeway construction was threatened by the movement of a rock wall which sits both underneath and next to the walkway.
“There is a large 250kg rock leaning towards the walkway and I’m told the rocks beneath the suspended walkway are also loose.
“When the movement in the wall became apparent to media, they consulted with their engineers who strongly advised the site be enclosed immediately and council agreement with the closure was sought and obtained.
“Apparently there is a dispute between Medina and council over responsibility for the walkway. At the moment it is on Medina's property and was constructed as a condition of approval approximately 13 years ago for use as a publicly accessible walkway. Medina wish to hand all responsibility and liability to council and council is apparently resisting that.
“I urge council and Medina to sort this out for the sake of all those who use it, particularly cyclists who now have literally an uphill battle to get into the city.”
