FAQs

It refers to “walking and cycling” (ie – the healthiest transport option that’s good for us and doesn’t emit or create traffic congestion). The NSW Government wants walking and cycling to be the preferred ways to make short trips, and to be viable, safe and efficient options for longer trips.

PAMP stands for “Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan” and historically, it has provided the ranking methodology, and mapping to support the expansion of paths, pedestrian crossings and bicycle infrastructure across the city.

A Bike Plan is like a PAMP however has the narrower focus on just cycling and cycling infrastructure. Primarily for cycling enthusiasts and those just interested to see the existing and proposed bike networks. The Bike Plan is an extract for displaying existing and proposed bike and cycling infrastructure projects.

The NSW Government released it’s new Active Transport Strategy in December 2022, which draws on the Future Transport Strategy, also released in 2022. The purpose is to double active transport trips in 20 years, following the NSW Government’s vision for safe, healthy, sustainable, accessible and integrated journeys in NSW.

Whilst the PAMP and Bike are fundamentally important elements, and need to be maintained, the mapping needed to be integrated, and it was not helping Council’s cause to have separate criteria to rank PAMP v Bike Plan projects.

Development of the overarching Active Transport Strategy has updated and pulled together the PAMP and Bike Plan, and with a single use ‘Active Transport’ criteria. Developing the strategy in line with the NSW Government’s latest strategy, policy and guidelines, will also help to maximise grant funding opportunities under the plan.

They still exist – but they’ve been updated and pulled together under the banner of the new Active Transport Strategy.

First check that they aren’t already on the list! Here’s a link to the latest PAMP Interactive mapping tool where you can see existing and proposed paths and crossings - (PAMP Interactive Mapping Tool). 

The maps have been updated to more accurately reflect all built infrastructure, and to capture all proposed facilities (that we know about). If yours still isn’t shown – there’s a field in the survey to let us know about it! Here’s a link to the survey

When the PAMP was first prepared, Council started by asking the community where they wanted paths and sought feedback on the initial selection criteria. By 2005 Council had adopted the first PAMP that covered the whole city. Since that time, the mapping of existing and proposed paths, crossings and bicycle facilities has expanded annually in response to ongoing community requests, or as projects were identified or refined through investigations.

As part of this latest update, an extensive review has been undertaken to fix any errors, ensure consistency with other plans and development approvals, and ensure the network has included as many community requests as possible.

Not all projects that are mapped have been ranked (just the ones that we currently anticipate Council will have to initiate, or progress). The ranking is to prioritise projects for Council funds, or to help Council shortlist projects for grant funding consideration.

For example, where we know a development has a condition of consent to construct a path, it doesn’t need to be ranked and where we know (or anticipate) that Transport for NSW may provide paths as part of their major projects, they also don’t need to be ranked.

There may be other examples where short sections of path may only be provided when a crossing improvement is undertaken. Those won’t be ranked as paths but will be ranked separately as crossings, with the path connections to be done at the same time.

After culling those examples, everything else left has been ranked.

Yes, of course! Commenting on the new criteria, and how it has been applied to prioritise projects, is absolutely part of the feedback we’d love you to provide.

For most people, the most important elements of the strategy are the maps and ranking spreadsheets. These documents are operational so they’re updated annually and kept current by staff.

However, the actual strategy documents themselves only need to be updated on a needs basis (for example, if requested by Council, or in response to any changes in legislation, standards, policies or guidelines). Even if these elements remain constant, Council aims to refresh the strategy and seek Council approval, every 5 years. This process also offers Council and the community the chance to reconfirm or amend the project selection criteria.

The best way to provide your feedback is to take the survey on the Get Involved Page to have your say

A focus of strategy is integration with Public Transport. Following the successful roll out of the initial “16 Cities program” Council understands that the NSW Government has now commenced early works on the next phase of Regional Public Transport improvements (likely to be called “Integrated Service Plans” - it is expected the new plans will seek to further expand public transport services and more broadly throughout the Shoalhaven). Whilst the current PAMP-Bike Plan mapping doesn’t show all public transport assets at the moment, we’re working on that in the background, and it should be more obvious as the mapping improves over time.