![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Paul-Balban-3-640x480.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe recent announcement that La Bateria had been officially designated as a shared space for pedestrians and cyclists once again triggered renewed discussion on the direction of sustainable transport planning on the Rock.<\/p>\n
For some, the designation adds risk for pedestrians, even though the route has long been used by many cyclists especially children.<\/p>\n
For others, it indicates a lack of depth in planning cycling infrastructure and a failure to understand cyclists\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Former Minister for Transport Paul Balban, who drove the project of to create cycling lanes during his time in office, welcomed the efforts of his successor, Dr John Cortes, but raised questions about the effectiveness of the scheme on the Saluting Battery, as the area is formally named.<\/p>\n
Mr Balban, now \u2018Bicycle Mayor of Gibraltar\u2019, said the space \u201cleads nowhere\u201d and will require cyclists to dismount and walk at certain points, limiting its usefulness for commuters.<\/p>\n
\u201cCyclists, especially commuters, want to get to work as quickly as possible. That\u2019s why they use their bicycle for transport,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The area has been used informally by both cyclists and pedestrians for years. <\/p>\n
But its formalisation has reignited discussion around sustainable transport options in Gibraltar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been an area which has been shared for many, many years,\u201d said Mr Balban.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where many people actually learn how to cycle, and many people use it on a daily basis to get to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Acknowledging public criticism since the announcement, he said: \u201cEvery time you do something, there\u2019s backlash.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll merit to Dr John Cortes, who at least is thinking [about sustainable transport],\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201c[But] he needs to have the support. He needs to have the funding. He needs also, again, people advising him\u2026 but it\u2019s good to see that he is thinking in terms of cycling, because it\u2019s been almost two years since the last election, and I\u2019ve seen there\u2019s been very little progress in terms of infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Balban said what was need was a connected network for cyclists, rather than isolated segments of infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t want to create little bridges here and there which are not connected, because people aren\u2019t going to cycle into these little areas for no reason at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also highlighted the importance of involving transport planners and engineers who cycle themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cA cyclist sees things differently,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny cyclist probably knows more than an engineer or a planner when it comes to convenience and logic as to what a cycle lane or shared space should look like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Balban commended Dr Cortes for learning how to cycle, adding: \u201cHe has also tried to become a cyclist. He still needs a lot more hours on the road, but he will start seeing things differently.\u201d<\/p>\n
He stressed too the wider public health and environmental benefits of cycling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about fitness. It\u2019s about health, public health, because behind all this is obesity, diabetes, heart disease. Because people are less active, their weights are higher, they\u2019re overweight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, Mr Balban said Gibraltar needs to decide what kind of city it wants to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing is, what do we want for our city? Do we want a car city? Or do we want a people city?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will support any parliament that is pro-cyclists and pro-people, in respect of reinforcing the green city, the 15-minute city, the life we want to live.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want a car city, build more car parks. You get cars parking on pavements as they wait for the kids from out of school, and the police turn a blind eye. Then they see kids cycling on pavements, they tell them off. Cars are allowed to park on pavements, but kids aren’t allowed to cycle on pavements.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said children and visitors often cycle on pavements because they do not feel safe on the roads.<\/p>\n
And while he acknowledged that \u201csome kids are nuisance\u201d, he said \u201cyou can’t generalise\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Balban also advocated for more user-friendly public spaces, with buildings designed to cantilever over pavements, such as on Devil\u2019s Tower Road, allowing for cycle lanes and wider pavements.<\/p>\n
This, he said, would also create space for planters, benches and even stalls, helping to \u201cbring life back to the street.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is a Bicycle Mayor by the Bicycle Mayor Network (BYCS)?
The network was founded in 2016 when the first Bicycle Mayor was elected in Amsterdam. By 2020, the network had reached 100 Bicycle Mayors worldwide and in 2021 the BYCS India Foundation was established.<\/p>\n
The role of a Bicycle Mayor in cities is to work to solve core issues and challenges related to cycling, collaborating with residents, activists, Government, MP\u2019s and industry.
Within the network itself practices and experiences are shared.<\/p>\n
The BYCS Network promotes the bicycle as a solution to some of the most complex urban challenges, keeping issues front and centre and moving forward through global and regional calls for action. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The recent announcement that La Bateria had been officially designated as a shared space for pedestrians and cyclists…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75335,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":["post-75334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}