Newcastle council spent almost $6 million less than it budgeted to on cycleways over five years - an underspend one councillor described as a "pattern" and "complete neglect".
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The council's budgets and financial statements show it originally planned to spend a combined $12.68 million on cycleways between 2015-16 and 2019-20, but only actually spent $6.95 million.
Every year the council revised its allocations down. It spent only $570,000 in each of the past two years.
"The figures don't lie. They show a consistent pattern of underspending," Independent Newcastle councillor John Church said.
"People do not want lip service. They want action.
"When council approves a budget, after community consultation, then residents should expect council to spend that money on the projects outlined."
Newcastle Cycleways Movement president Sam Reich said he was not aware of how significant the underspend was. He said he believed it was because the council had gone without dedicated staff for years.
"I know that council officers face a range of issues that impact on their ability to implement plans," he said.
"It is my understanding that the service unit responsible for planning these projects is under-resourced ... especially when you look at some of the other councils."
City of Newcastle did not answer a direct question about why it had failed to spend the budgeted amounts in a written response to the Newcastle Herald, but said it had spend additional funds across its operations to help facilitate cycleways projects.
"Expansion and improvement of the cycleway network is one of the city's priorities, and an important investment into the future of our city," it said.
"In the past five years we have spent almost $3 million acquiring land that will enable critical cycleways to be constructed on both Hunter and King Streets. However, each of these cycleways is dependent on developments being finalised by the private sector and so delays are sometimes unavoidable.
"We have invested more than $8 million on new cycling infrastructure including shared paths on Park Avenue Kotara, Jackson Street Broadmeadow, Donald Street Hamilton East, and Scholey Street Bridge."
Cr Church said any land on King and Hunter streets acquired for cycleways was "news to me" and he was "in the dark" if nearly $3 million had been spent.
The stated $8 million investment in cycling infrastructure includes some funds spent in other expenditure areas, like roads. Cycling infrastructure is sometimes bundled into road upgrades, which makes comparing cycleways expenditure between councils difficult.
In its budget and annual reports, Lake Macquarie council, for example, includes cycleways and footpaths expenditure together.
Asked for a breakdown over the past five financial years, a Lake Macquarie council spokeswoman said the council had spend $12.3 million on cycleways.
Newcastle council plans to spend about $5 million in 2020-21 and began work on a shared path between Merewether beach and The Junction late last year. A similar path will be built on University Drive between Blue Gum Road and the inner-city bypass in Birmingham Gardens. The council has also received multiple state grants for a number of smaller projects, including short paths on Honeysuckle Drive and Wharf Road.
Mr Reich said Newcastle's cycling infrastructure was improving, but "slowly and from a low base". "There was never any real planned approach for how active transport would be part of the revitalised Newcastle, but there are other areas that have come to the fore as being critical," he said.
"We're still pushing for good access from the suburban areas. The cycleways within the CBD are improving, but we still have very poor access from Mayfield, Hamilton and almost everywhere, certainly the south."
The council has a draft 10-year cycling plan on exhibition until January 25.
It builds on a strategy adopted in 2012, but does not include a list of projects, their priority and cost like the former document.
Mr Reich said that was "one of his key concerns" about the document, but he had been told there would be a separate "implementation plan". He said the council must back well-intentioned plans up with appropriate and sustained resources to bring projects to life.
"We can't cycle on a report," Mr Reich said. "We actually need to see the elements put in the ground."
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