“Having a trial run for almost four years is not an example of us doing our job,” one Adelaide city councillor said last night amid changes to renewing permits for e-scooter companies operating in the city.

On Tuesday night, Adelaide City Council elected members unanimously supported a motion calling for Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor to request an extension to the city’s e-scooter permits from the State Government until 31 December 2022.

This is eight months short of the administration’s 12-month recommended contract extension, as detailed in the agenda.

The altered timeframe came after Lord Mayoral candidate Rex Patrick raised concern about whether the council should be debating the proposition at all this close to the local government elections.

The City of Adelaide is in caretaker mode until the conclusion of the general elections in November.

In a letter to City of Adelaide CEO Clare Mockler, sent on Monday, Patrick wrote that the administration’s initial recommended extension — to 31 October 2023 — would run for 12 days of the council’s current term and 353 days of the next term, and would essentially “bind” the next council to a decision made by the one prior.

“There is some controversy about the use of scooters in the city,” Patrick wrote.

“Adelaideans have the right to have a direct say on this (and other matters) through a vote next month, and due respect must be given to them.

“I accept that this matter involves complexity, with arguments for and against, but the caretaker period provisions must be adhered to”.

Mockler responded in her own letter dated that day, and seen by CityMag, stating the council was “not the ultimate decision maker” on the matter.

“During caretaker period, every report is assessed against the requirements of Council’s Caretaker Policy and I can assure you that I take compliance with this Policy and the Local Government (Elections) Act 1999 seriously,” Mockler’s letter states.

“The policy decision to have e-scooters in the City has already been previously made by this Council. Therefore the Report will be considered by Council tomorrow night.

“It is up to Council to decide tomorrow night whether they support the recommendation as printed or not.”

Rex Patrick. This picture: Supplied

Patrick told CityMag if he was successfully elected as Lord Mayor, he would ask the council to withdraw any e-scooter permits until the Adelaide City council was “satisfied” all “safety remedies have been implemented”.

“There are some pros and cons to the scooters, but the cons are related to safety — riders getting hurt and pedestrians getting hit or confronting trip hazards,” he said.

“Safety must prevail.

“You wouldn’t operate a parachute business until all safety issues were solved, [so] the council shouldn’t allow for the operation of scooters until safety issues are solved.”

In its report, the administration initially requested Verschoor ask Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Tom Koutsantonis to extend the e-scooter trial a year, to coincide with a Parliamentary Select Committee partly tasked with investigating the need to potentially rev up e-scooter regulation.

South ward councillor Alexander Hyde spearheaded the changed timeframe, saying it was “time” for the Adelaide City Council to “conclude the trial”.

“Having a trial run for almost four years is not an example of us doing our job,” he said.

The Department for Infrastructure and Transport also needed to clarify legislation surrounding e-scooter use, Hyde said.

“Where State Government says you can have a rideshare operator, and it’s okay to use these devices, for them to use these devices, but it’s not okay for private citizens to use these devices, is also indicative of a sort of some serious policy discrepancy there,” he said.

“These matters need to be addressed.”

Privately owned “motorised scooters” are not allowed to operate on a road or road-related area, according to the South Australian Road Rules.

But the city’s e-scooter trial, which commenced in February 2019, allows e-scooters by Singapore-owned companies Beam and Neuron to operate in the postcode 5000.

They pay $1530 per week to the City of Adelaide in permit fees.

For these e-scooters to continue beyond October, an approved extension is required by the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.

Hyde’s motion also requested Mockler “consider” briefing the incoming council members on the topic of e-scooters, as well as “note” the administration’s continuing collaboration with DIT to investigate infrastructure options for e-scooters and pedestrians.

The administration states in its report this e-scooter extension was presented to the council now because it constituted “ordinary business” and the council was not the “ultimate decision maker”.

The City of Adelaide’s 2022-23 Business Plan and Budget, adopted in June, details the council would “develop a policy position on micromobility to enhance our advocacy on emerging modes of transport”.

This aligned with the council’s other strategic goals, the Budget states, specifically that the council: “[would] work with the State and Federal Government to future proof infrastructure for emerging modes of transport, and trial smart, sustainable forms of public transport”.

The administration states in the report the council would continue to work with DIT and investigate options where e-scooters may be “facilitated of footpaths” and to “meet the needs of different street users”.

This picture: Sharmonie Cockayne

ON YA BIKE (LANE)

Later on Tuesday, elected members approved the council’s 2022-23 financial year’s procurement activities. These are activities estimated to be equal to or above $2 million and require council support.

One of three activities was allocating $2 million to complete the final piece of the city’s north-south bikeway puzzle.

The Adelaide City Council said in 2018 that it was unable to build the final section – from Rundle Street to North Terrace – until the construction of a 36-storey hotel complex, the Adelaidean, was finished.

The construction work is now completed and the new funding, according to council documents, would be used to secure a tender this November to build the leg.

The council will go to market later this year to commence the project, with activities spanning a streetscape upgrade including footpath and stormwater works.

It will also construct the new separated bikeway along the section.

For nearly a decade, the City of Adelaide and State Government have committed funds to build two separate bikeways – north-south and east-west – through the city and Adelaide Park Lands.

The Frome Street cycleway has been the subject of controversy since it opened in 2014, with parts of the route ripped up in 2017 to accommodate peak hour traffic.

It was redesigned in 2019.

In 2021 the Adelaide City Council scrapped the proposed route for the east-west cycleway, leaving the final cycleway and funding in limbo.