FAQs

 Active transport means getting around using your body to move, instead of using a car, motorbike or bus. This includes walking, riding a bike, using a scooter, skateboarding, or using a mobility device. Active transport helps you build physical activity into your everyday trips, like going to school, work, or to the shops.

Our Active Transport Strategy is a strategic document that is designed to guide improvements and deliver infrastructure that supports walking, cycling, scootering, e-mobility, and other human powered mobility devices. It aims to boost transport choice and decrease car dependency by supporting a safer, connected transport network. 

An Active Transport Strategy is needed to guide how we can give people more ways to get around, help improve physical and mental health, and reduce traffic and pollution. It focuses on making it safer, easier and more affordable for people of all ages and abilities to move around on their own, without always needing a car.

A safer, connected active transport network provides more affordable ways to travel locally, particularly for people who may be more affected by rising transport and fuel costs.

In 2025, the State Government set a target for Manningham to build 28,500 new homes by 2051. They also reduced how many car parking spaces new residential developments require. This means more people will be living here, but there will be less space for cars, which will put extra pressure on public transport and make our roads busier. 

Active transport, like walking, cycling, or scootering, provides a sustainable alternative that can help manage this future growth. It’s good for your health, good for the community, supports local businesses, and helps the environment.

Putting this Strategy in place also helps us advocate to the State Government to build better paths and safer crossings over major roads and freeways. The Strategy clearly outlines our vision and aspirations for active transport in Manningham, and is a tangible, well-substantiated document that we can rely on when seeking State Government to improve their infrastructure in Manningham. 

The key priorities of the Active Transport Strategy are defined by 6 themes, including: 

• safe
• empowering and inclusive
• healthy community
• connected
• equitable priority
• future focused. 

These themes will guide the future of active transport in Manningham and inform the goals and specific actions we intend to deliver.

Active transport delivers significant health, social, economic, and environmental benefits. Moving regularly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, commuting actively boosts emotional and psychological wellbeing, and choosing to walk or cycle cuts transport costs while lowering carbon emissions.

The Active Transport Strategy will replace and combine the Walk Manningham Plan (2011), Bicycle Strategy (2013), and Principal Pedestrian Network Plan (2013) as these strategic documents are now considered out of date. The Strategy will complement our other local policies, plans, and strategies, as well as State Government legislation and policies. 

We are responsible for the implementation of the action plan that is included in the Active Transport Strategy. Every action in the plan will have a nominated timeframe and team within Council who is responsible for its delivery. 

Actions were selected through strategic assessment, internal consultation, and considerable internal engagement across several teams at Council. This was to ensure the actions aligned with Council’s priorities and complementary local and statewide strategic documents. 

Active transport relies on human-powered movement including walking, cycling, scootering, or mobility devices including e-mobility. Meanwhile, public transport includes motorised, shared infrastructure including buses, trains, or trams. 

Manningham Council was awarded $30,000 by the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) Local Government Grant Program (LGGP), to contribute to the development of this Active Transport Strategy. 

The LGGP provides funding to projects that help prevent road trauma and facilitate adoption of the ‘safe system’ approach to road safety: safe roads, safe vehicles, safe speeds and safe people.

This funding has been used in combination with Council allocated funds to deliver a broader and carefully considered Active Transport Strategy, to encourage Manningham residents to walk and cycle more frequently.

Once endorsed, the Active Trasport Strategy will be a 10-year strategic document. This provides time to accomplish the actions in the Action Plan, particularly those that have a long-term timeframe. Of note, some of the actions have been assigned an ‘ongoing’ timeframe to allow them to be delivered throughout the life of the strategy.

Manningham Council is also currently working on a draft Footpath Policy, which will complement the Active Transport Strategy. The Footpath Policy provides a decision-making  framework for details such as where new footpaths should be delivered (e.g. which side of the street), what materials should be considered, and how capital funding should be allocated for footpath infrastructure. 

While footpaths can be used for active travel, the draft Active Transport Strategy expands on this by identifying the delivery of a shared path network, to support and encourage multiple modes of active transport including walking, cycling, scootering, etc. 

The Active Transport Strategy is a high-level strategic document, with a clear vision and actions for the next 10 years. It focuses on aspects of active transport beyond physical infrastructure alone, and leaves the detailed decision-making on individual footpath projects to the Footpath Policy. 

Collection of your information complies with the Privacy Policy outlined in our Your Say Manningham site: Privacy Policy | Your Say Manningham. Manningham City Council is fully committed to protecting any personal information you provide to us as per our obligations under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic). The information collected will be used to support Council’s decision-making and actions in relation to the Active Transport Strategy Policy and to enhance Council’s understanding of Manningham communities as a whole. It will not be disclosed to any other external party without your consent, unless required or authorised by law. You may request access to the information you have provided at any time and make corrections if you believe the information is incorrect. Please contact us via telephone 9840 9333 or email manningham@manningham.vic.gov.au.