The Committee (2023-2024)

• Marc Lane – President
  •  I am a senior practitioner, qualified in urban design, architecture and law, and with over twenty years’ professional experience in policy, strategy and design at all scales.  I have a long-standing passion for walking, cycling and public space, and contributed novel policy for these areas for the Mayor of London’s position paper, ‘A City for All Londoners’ (2016), and then the NSW Design and Place SEPP (2021).  I developed the NSW Movement and Place Framework from 2018 – 2020, including publishing the Practitioner’s Guide to Movement and Place, and Evaluator’s Guide (both 2020), which promote a place-based approach to streets, giving more space to people and place.

• David Martin – Vice-President
  • Now retired, I am a life-long activist for cycling and walking. My 25 years in NSW Transport covered road safety, corporate strategy, change management and major infrastructure. As a parent, grandparent and former teacher, I am passionate about making our streets more walkable and rideable for people 8 to 80. I am continuously lobbying Canada Bay Council and I’m also active with Bicycle NSW.
• David Haertsch – Treasurer
  • I am self employed as an architect at his Sydney-based practice. Since youth, his life passions have been walking, nature and the city. In the 1980s I undertook part of my career studies in architecture at Kyoto University. Since student days, I have spent much of my leisure time hiking, in Australia, Japan and Europe. I have led and Walking and architectural tours through Japan and Europe and undertaken walking tours in Australia and Africa as well. I am fluent in German, Japanese and French. I have been the honorary treasurer of WalkSydney since its founding and am currently the Pedestrian representative on Sydney City’s Local Pedestrian, Cycling and Traffic Committee.

• Regina Haertsch – Secretary
  • Prior to retirement, I was a Policy Director for the NSW Government on competition and consumer regulation. I am passionate about walking and have in fact walked the length and breadth of several countries.  This experience has given me a keen sense of walking as transport and therefore I am most supportive of WalkSydney’s goals as well as the objectives of our partners.
• Josephine Roper – Technologist
  • I am a civil engineer currently undertaking a PhD focusing on sustainable transport, particularly walking for transport. My research includes developing walkability indices, the value of walkability in residential property prices, and methods for evaluating perceived walkability. Coming from a road construction background, I have seen first-hand the stark difference in attention paid to optimising transport systems for car travel versus walking. I feel strongly about the potential for walking (and cycling) as part of the sustainable mobility transition in Sydney, and as part of making cities better, more enjoyable places to live.
• Michael Bishop – Committee member
  • I am an urban planner and policy adviser who has worked in government and the private sector. I currently work as National Manager Policy and Strategic Planning at a major public property developer. Prior to this, I was Director of Policy to the Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport and Minister for Planning and Public Spaces in the New South Wales Government. I am also a Casual Academic in the City Planning program at the University of New South Wales. I am passionate about making our urban environments happier, healthier, safer and easier places for people to move through and enjoy.
• Tegan Mitchell – Committee member
  • I am a transport professional with over 25 years of experience. I have worked in a variety of senior roles in road transport strategy and investment for State and Local Government (TfNSW & City of Sydney). I have expertise in road space allocation & Movement and Place framework.  I am passionate about walkable neighbourhoods, and making walking or riding the first choice for transport. Recently I worked with Sydney Water to develop a policy allowing access to corridors for recreation and transport.
• Lena Huda – Committee member
  • I co-founded 30Please.org and safe-streets-to-school.org. I grew up on a residential street in Germany, where 30km/h speed limits were implemented in the 80’s. Before moving to Australia in 2019, I was working in senior positions for major investment banks in London. Inspired by the successful “20 [mph] is Plenty for Us” campaign from the UK, my focus is on 30km/h limits: an evidence-backed, low-cost measure that would enable more walking and cycling, save lives, prevent injuries, promote stronger communities and thus reduce health inequalities, obesity, air pollution and CO2 emissions. I live with my Australian husband and four children in Wollongong. My vision is one where walking is safe enough that children as young as 8 years old can walk through their neighbourhood to local schools, parks and shops.
• Tim Cassidy – Committee member
  • I work in property and commute to the city by bike. I am passionate about the environment and road safety. I want to see a world where children and adults can move about on most journeys on foot or bike. Interested in urban design and I surf.

Advisors to WalkSydney

• Barnaby Bennett – Penultimate Past President of WalkSydney – Dr Barnaby Bennett is an Adjunct Fellow at the UTS School of Design, and in recent years has worked on urban and strategy projects with Right Angle, Hill Thalis, Grimshaw, and REALMStudios. In 2007 he co-founded Freerange Press which has published over 30 books and journals. Barnaby has been involved with a range of activist campaigns including, the establishment of the world’s first Festival of Transitional Architecture and was a co-founder of WalkSydney. Barnaby is currently Senior Design Advisor at the Government Architect NSW. He was the Creative Director of Sydney Architecture Festival (2019) and Festival of Transitional Architecture (2018).
• Brigid Kelly – Immediate Past President of WalkSydney
• Dick van den Dool
• David Levinson – I am a Professor at the School of Civil Engineering at the University of Sydney, where I lead TransportLab and the Transport Engineering research group, and direct the Master of Transport. My research interests span transport, from engineering and design, through policy and planning, to geography and economics. My most recent research emphasises transport-land use interactions, accessibility, and transport system evolution. I was the first President of WalkSydney.

Sub-committees

*Point person

• Membership – Regina Haertsch*
• Finances, Grants, and Sponsorships – David Haertsch*, Barnaby Bennett
• Technology – Josephine Roper,* Federico Marcantognini, Yvonne Poon, Barnaby Bennett
• Liaison & Events – Lena Huda*
• Social Media – Josephine Roper,* Lena Huda, Keeya Feng
• Website Editorial – Josephine Roper* 
• Newsletter – Lena Huda*
• Formal Submissions – David Martin*
• Road Rules – Janet Wahlquist,* Regina Haertsch, David Levinson
• Traffic Signals – David Haertsch,* Andrew Pullen, David Levinson

If you want to be involved in any of the committees, we welcome your help, just contact us.

Constitution

• Our constitution is available to view / download here.