Council claims disability wins as it denies a wheelchair-bound Davidson resident a footpath.
At last month’s meeting of Northern Beaches Council (Tuesday, 19 May), Council accepted a report on actions completed in the 2022-2026 Disability Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP), while considering the adoption of a new four-year plan (DIAP 2026-2030).
Among the ‘key achievements’ claimed by Council was ‘strengthened inclusive consultation in capital works by embedding engagement with people with a disability’ and ‘improved pedestrian access and movement by delivering and upgrading footpaths’.
These achievements are a surprise to Davidson resident Dr Katherine Gill (main image and below, with Davidson MP Matt Cross), who has been requesting a footpath since at least 2018. Dr Gill is a research scientist and Occupational Therapist who is affected by a Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) that requires her to use a powered wheelchair.
Dr Gill showed the Northern Beaches Advocate a letter she received from Council in 2018, which said Council’s budget was limited that year but her request would be recorded for future assessment. The letter bizarrely told the wheelchair-bound Dr Gill it was committed to promoting walking as a transport mode.
The good-natured Dr Gill has spent the years since driving her wheelchair off and on-road along Borgnis Street and Ashworth Avenue to get to Glenrose Village Shopping Centre around 1km from her home to attend frequent medical appointments.
Dr Gill said she needs to be rescued at least once a month by passing good Samaritans or the local fire brigade as her wheelchair becomes bogged in soft ground or caught on rocks or tree roots (images below).
“I don’t like having to call them. What if a fire breaks out while they are helping me, just because I got stuck?
“There was a time I came out of my driveway and the road was wet, and the leaves were slippery. My chair lost traction and I slid down the hill and got stuck under a car,” said Dr Gill.
“Last time, my wheelchair hit a tree root and bounced up. I got stuck on a rock and my wheels were sort of in the air and not gripping the ground.
“People trying to move a 160 kilogram powered wheelchair creates great risk of manual handling injuries, which is not safe for those helping me,” explained Dr Gill.
The Northern Beaches Advocate first met Dr Gill at the Borgnis Street Christmas Lights in 2024, where she raised her concerns with Davidson MP Matt Cross (images above).
At last year’s Christmas lights, the Northern Beaches Advocate noted the dangerous situation posed to pedestrians and families with prams (images below).
Mr Cross asked for time to raise the matter with Council and was confident it could be resolved given the additional impetus from Christmas traffic.
In April however, those hopes were dashed after Mr Cross received a letter from Northern Beaches Mayor Sue Heins declining the request.
“We appreciate the resident’s concerns about pedestrian accessibility and safety and want to assure you that Council is dedicated to improving pedestrian access for everyone in our community and promoting walking as a safe transport option.
“To improve our walking network, Council has adopted the Northern Beaches Walking Plan, which was developed based on an audit of the existing network and future walking links to connect our community to key local destinations.
“Each year, I am advised we receive around 300 requests for new footpaths. Due to the large number of higher-priority footpath projects and limited funding, the construction of a new footpath in Borgnis Street, Davidson is not included in our new footpath program at this stage,” wrote Mayor Heins.
Mr Cross said the refusal to plan for a footpath along the Borgnis Street and Ashworth Avenue corridor was difficult to understand.
“I’m inviting the community to sign my petition calling on Northern Beaches Council to urgently install footpaths on Borgnis Street at Davidson and Ashworth Avenue at Belrose.
“These streets are a key corridor connecting local residents to Glenrose Village and the Lionel Watts precinct. People in wheelchairs, pushing prams, and those with mobility challenges are being forced to navigate traffic, muddy verges and uneven ground simply to move around their community.
“I became aware of this lack of infrastructure when I met Borgnis Street residents putting on their annual Christmas lights. Their display is the best in Sydney, attended by thousands of people each year.
“I witnessed visitors walking on the road while vehicles passed by. It was clear this infrastructure gap presents a real safety risk. One of the many residents who has raised this issue with me is Dr Gill.
“Her experiences of being stranded and unable to safely navigate the street because of the lack of footpaths are deeply concerning. No resident should face those barriers in their own neighbourhood.
“In May, I moved a Notice of Motion in the Parliament of NSW calling on Northern Beaches Council to do its job and prioritise the funding and delivery of footpaths on Borgnis Street and Ashworth Avenue.
“This petition will be presented to both the Parliament of NSW and Northern Beaches Council. It forms part of my broader ‘Let’s Fix Our Roads’ campaign, which invites residents to identify local roads, intersections and infrastructure issues that need fixing, so I can raise it directly with the Minister for Roads and Northern Beaches Council,” said Mr Cross.
Council could consider its own Disability Inclusion Action Plan, for which it gave itself top marks at last month’s meeting. Eager to create and enforce accessibility rules, it seems less enthusiastic to respond to an actual need for an accessible footpath for a person with an actual disability.
The new Disability Inclusion Action Plan identifies that ‘everyday spaces are still hard to navigate’ and that Council will, ‘improve consultation and engagement with people with a disability during the design and delivery of capital projects to better understand access requirements’.
The Northern Beaches Advocate stood aside to allow time for the process to deliver a footpath for Dr Gill, and make the annual Christmas pilgrimage to Borgnis Street safer for everyone. The latest communication from Council suggests there is no prospect of that happening.
Perhaps when Council has finished undertaking accessibility theatre with its new plan, it might consider accessing correspondence already on file from disabled members of the community who have identified specific needs that remain unmet.
Northern Beaches Council this week placed its 2026-2030 Disability Inclusion Action Plan on public exhibition. Feedback on the new plan can be made at Council’s Your Say website.Â
The Northern Beaches community might ask why hundreds of hours of Council staff time, and presumably hundreds of thousands of dollars, are spent on plans that fail to deliver benefit to the people they are intended to serve.
Davidson MP Matt Cross has vowed to maintain pressure until a footpath is delivered, asking residents to demonstrate public support by signing the petition which is available at his website.
Images: Northern Beaches Advocate, Dr Katherine Gill
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