Greens Councillor Jess Whittaker brought on a debate at Wollongong City Council’s meeting on Monday night after a proposed ban on e-bikes, e-scooters and e-skateboards was unexpectedly announced by the state government last week with warning signs plastered across the Sydney Train Network.
Councillor Whittaker said at the meeting when introducing the urgency motion: “At a glance I can tell you this disproportionate response to a safety issue will punish disadvantaged people – young people, delivery riders, people with disabilities or medical conditions who can’t walk far enough to get to a train station, or anyone who can’t afford or doesn’t want to drive a car.”
“Particularly in a region like Wollongong with steep geography that has increasingly adopted multi-modal transport solutions to connect people with trains, this is a massive blow for our transport strategy, and that’s why I brought this to the council at very late notice.”
After an amendment from Councillor David Brown, it was resolved unanimously that the Council would write to the state government to request clarification on their plans for any potential ban on e-mobility on the train network and also write to the federal government to seek information on actions being taken to improve the import standards around lithium-ion batteries.
