Council
24 April, 2026
Residents slam Natimuk Road bollards
Natimuk Road resident Ian McCulloch said he couldn’t believe what he saw when he got home earlier this week, with a line of high-visibility orange bollards just finishing being installed by Horsham Rural City Council and now dominating the streetscape from his front yard.
“I said to the bloke, ‘Are these staying?’" Mr McCulloch said. "He said, ‘Yep'. That’s the first I knew of it.”
A Horsham Rural City Council spokesperson said the bike path upgrade, implemented to improve accessibility and safety on the service road, was developed by engineering consultants in line with relevant road safety standards.
Running between Hillary Street and Bennett Road, the project was funded by the Victorian Government’s Safe Local Roads and Streets Program.
McCulloch said the installation was an “abomination” and at odds with some of the heritage-listing requirements residents had to comply with.
A social media video he posted had several thousand views and showed him filming the line of markers and their encroachment on the service lane.
“I had to do this fence for the neighbour,” he said, turning back from the bollards.
“Had to put a picket fence up here – and now they've built a bike lane on the road.”
His anger and frustration boiling over, Mr McCulloch showed the scale of the new feature on the road and used some choice vernacular to give his frank, considered opinion.
Mr McCulloch said, “It just ruins the look of the whole street,” but was also concerned it would create problems for larger vehicles if cars were parked on the road.
“So when you get a bus down here and someone's parking in the service lane, there's not enough room for the bus and the car,” he said.
“Where it should have gone is where the trucks are parked now, behind the power poles in between the trees and the road.”
The vast majority of people commenting on the post agreed with him; Mr McCulloch said he had contacted the council and wasn’t impressed with the lack of community consultation.
“You’ve got a nice block here, sit out on the front on your veranda, nice big trees – and you're looking at 300 orange (bollards) – it’s a joke.”
Just up the street, local Wayne Watkins echoes Mr McCulloch's concerns.
“The whole street's bloody wild about it, it's absolutely ridiculous," he said.
“They've taken a bit of the road away. We can't park on the other side.
“Some of us have trailers. We’re a three-car family, and we can’t even park out front of our house.
“If you have visitors, where are they supposed to park?”
Mr Watkins asked why the bike path didn’t follow a straight line like the existing bike path.
“At the end of Natimuk Road near the kindergarten, the bike path is off the road along the tree line,” he said.
“It's fine. It's way off the road. Once they've got to Hillary Street, in their wisdom, they decide to come back onto the road instead of following the trees down.”
The council spokesperson acknowledged the concerns that the reflective bollards contrasted with the heritage overlay.
“We are now exploring alternative options that will maintain the necessary safety measures for cyclists while minimising visual impact,” they said.
“Feedback from residents along the relevant sections of Natimuk Road will be sought on these options before implementing the alternative measures.”