Camwest Bicycle User Group Inc

09/10/2026

A reminder that the Spring Cycle is happening on Sunday - see https://www.springcycle.com.au/. Note that trains are out between Parramatta and Olympic Park.
For those heading east from the Parramatta Park finish, one option is to catch the train from Westmead Station to Seven Hills Station, then ride to Bella Vista Metro station (on shared path) then catch the Metro towards the city. See https://ridewithgps.com/routes/57492123 for the Seven Hills to Bella Vista route. There are other options as well, like riding from Parra Park to Olympic Park or Rhodes or Concord stations, or riding to Bella Vista station.

6.3 km, +72 m. Bike ride in Seven Hills, New South Wales

07/10/2026

Just thought I’d write a few posts about CAMWEST and our website. CAMWEST is one of a number of local Bicycle User Groups associated with Bicycle NSW. Our primary focus at present is advocacy. Unfortunately that doesn’t leave us a lot of spare time to put on regular rides – which is one of the main things that attracts new riders. In other words, our membership numbers are lower than some BUGS which have a full ride calendar. At present some of our members get their riding fixes by also being members of another BUG which does focus a lot more on riding.
Advocacy-wise we try to cover quite a large area – officially covering Cumberland, Parramatta, Blacktown, Penrith and Hawkesbury council areas – or basically from Olympic Park to the Nepean River. These councils cover a population base of over 1.1 million people and growing. We’ve also provided feedback in some surrounding council areas as well – although we try not to make a habit of it!
Links to a lot of the provided feedback over the last four years is listed on https://camwest.org.au/advocacy.html. For each project listed in this page we create a ‘blurb box’ containing a brief overview, plus links to the original council or state government project pages, our feedback, plus to any other publicly available feedback (often from Bicycle NSW). Where available, we try and provide links to a post Exhibition report (or similar) produced by council or Transport for NSW, and to a ‘final’ plan. Usually to the right of the ‘Blurb’ heading there is a map button which when pressed highlights the project area on the CAMWEST Map page – with a popup containing the ‘blurb box’ contents. The Map page (with the ‘Infrastructure and Works’ layer enabled) is another way of viewing the various projects.
We’re keen to hear any feedback on ways we can improve the way the data is presented on the website. Is there other info that should be presented as well?
Please also get in touch if you’re keen to assist in preparing feedback – or would simply like to be included in our advocacy group email list. I normally try to let the group know of any feedback that is current, and send a draft to the group for any comments or corrections before submitting the final feedback.

05/10/2026

For those who live near or cycle around Regents Park Town Centre, Cumberland Council are seeking community feedback on local traffic management issues around Regents Park Town Centre - Amy Street and side streets - see https://haveyoursay.cumberland.nsw.gov.au/regents-park-traffic-and-transport-study.
Please let me know if you're interested in providing cycling-related feedback.
In 2023 CAMWEST and Bicycle NSW provided feedback to Council on the Regents Park Town Centre Public Domain Plan - see https://camwest.org.au/advocacy.html for links. We pretty much covered issues and possible solutions for active transport in our submissions. (Amy Street is a state road rather than council, so Council's input is limited). Most of them were seen as 'out of scope' for the public domain plan.
Feedback is open until October 13th.

Advocating for improved cycling facilities and infrastructure in Western Sydney

05/10/2026

I recently went on a 16 day organised group tour of Canada, traveling from Montreal to Vancouver by coach and train, and a day trip to Vancouver Island (which included a vehicular ferry). While the trip didn’t include any cycling, on the coach and on our stops I was watching out for cycling infrastructure, and keen to see how the Canadians may do thing differently. While being disappointed (but not surprised) at the proliferation of larger vehicles on the road, it was great to see some of their reduced speed limits (compared to Australia). There were sections of major dual lane highway where the maximum speed was 90 (through National Parks). I saw long stretches of shared paths alongside some rural roads.
Probably the thing that struck me most was the implementation of 30kmph speed limits in some towns – and the residential streets of Vancouver (including streets which don’t have a painted centre line). In the tourist locations of Banff and Jasper which have the 30kmph speed limits, cyclists are strongly encouraged to ride on the road. There are even instances of on-street bicycle parking. In one location I observed an on-street rack beside a pedestrian crossing – thereby utilizing the on-road ‘clearance zone’ around a pedestrian crossing.
In Kamloops, Toronto and Vancouver I saw some separated on-road cycling lanes in the C*D areas.
I caught a train in Vancouver where I saw a dedicated area for bikes (There was a dedicated area for wheelchairs/prams on the opposite side of the carriage, so the areas weren’t shared).
There were lots of bike parking racks, and in some locations a lot of parked bikes. Some local buses had racks out front that could carry 2 or 3 bikes. I’m not for one moment saying it was perfect, but from a casual observation if appeared to be further advanced than Sydney – and in areas that suffer really crappy riding weather for at least several months of the year.
News article on Vancouver’s change to 30kmph residential streets: https://vancouver.ca/news-calendar/30-kmh-speed-limits-coming-to-local-streets-july-2025.aspx

26/09/2026

A couple of weeks ago I read in the Bike North newsletter that a shared path had been completed along Norwest Bvld, between Windsor Rd and Old Windsor Rd, going past Norwest Metro Station. It hadn't been plotted on Open Street Map, so I thought I'd check it out last weekend - and plot it as well.
The path is on the southern side of Norwest Blvd, and most of it is in a fairly constrained corridor. It's mostly around 2.5m wide. A lot (bit not all) of the previous brick footpath has been replaced with concrete path. A lot of the path is hard-up against the road gutter (with no verge to the road carriageway), although there are sections with a narrow verge and one stretch with a wider verge. There are several real pinch points around bus shelters and road sign poles, but most of the route is quite ridable. The crossing of Brookhollow Ave beside the roundabout is less than ideal (poor sightlines of drivers turning left into Bookhollow Ave when riders travelling west, and crossing dual turning lanes when riding east). However, the crossing of Westwood Way near the roundabout has a priority Pedestrian/Bicycle crossing which is great to see.
The section of pathway alongside Norwest Metro seems not to be signposted as a shared path, although the path is reasonably wide. Lights at the other end of Brookhollow Ave outside the Metro station are pedestrian only. Overall though, it's quite a good outcome, and provides great linkages between Old Windsor Rd, Windsor Rd, Norwest Metro and the Hills Greenway Link (towards Rouse Hill and into Bella Vista Farm).

18/09/2026

Interesting ABC article on the changing size and types of cars on our roads and the impacts on pedestrian safety. See

A study of 13 years of crashes in Australia finds a link between car height and risk of pedestrian death, particularly for women and children.

18/09/2026

The CAMWEST AGM is happening on Saturday September 26th at 5pm via Google Meet. All current CAMWEST members are welcome to attend. If you're interested in joining CAMWEST, see

Since 1987, CAMWEST has been promoting cycling in Western Sydney. Discover more about us!

02/08/2026

For all those who wished for a loo on the shared path. This is on a new shared path in Dunheved.....The portaloo is actually ON the shared path....complete with 'dooring' potential :(

25/07/2026

Spring Cycle (https://www.springcycle.com.au/) is happening on Sunday Oct 11th this year. The 50km route is finishing at Parramatta Park.

Bicycle NSW are putting out the call for volunteers for the event. I've done it a number of times in the past, and will plan to be involved again this year.

Some of the main roles are:
* Course Marshalls - where you literally stand on a corner and tell riders where to go (in the nicest possible way)!

* Mobile Support - basically mobile mechanics for the simpler stuff, like pumping up tyres, repairing punctures and simple bike adjustments.

There is a briefing session in the weeks before-hand that participants are encouraged to attend. Volunteers are supplied with a crew shirt, hat and bag. Volunteer registrations close on Aug 30th.
See https://raceroster.com/events/2026/113658/spring-cycle/volunteer

13/07/2026

Another section of the Parramatta Valley Cycleway will be closed from July 20th.
John Holland Group have advised that due to the commencement of construction works in the area associated with the Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2, the Waratah Street shared pathway will once again be closed from Monday July the 20th. The closure will remain in place until the conclusion of the enabling works. Please see a copy of the detour signage below which will be installed from this week along the detour and alternative cyclist route. Traffic management and dismount signage may be present at points of the detour to ensure the safety of both cyclists and pedestrians.