THE chair of the Community Safety Committee said a ban on scooters should be the last resort for Bathurst Regional Council.
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On Wednesday, council resolved to "investigate the methods and process involved to ban scooters from the central business district", with a report expected to come back to the first meeting of the new year.
Councillor Alex Christian has expressed an opinion that a ban should extend to skateboards as well as scooters (excluding mobility aids).
However, Cr Jacqui Rudge said the original discussions of the safety committee, of which she is the chair, were exclusively about scooters.
In fact, she is reluctant to implement a ban at all.
"[The committee] agreed further investigation needed to be done, but I don't think I was thinking of the word 'banning'," Cr Rudge said.
"I was hoping we could look at various strategies to try to alleviate the issue that some businesses apparently are having.
"I have to say, myself, I haven't been approached by any businesses. Nobody has come to me and said they're having a problem. That doesn't mean that the problem's not occurring, but I'd like to try to work with the businesses and work with the police to see what strategies we can look at to try to alleviate the issues that are happening first."
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She said it appears the issue is only being caused by a handful of kids on scooters, who are riding dangerously and putting themselves and others at risk of injury.
She doesn't want to see the whole community punished, particularly at a time when health organisations are encouraging people to get outside and be active.
"It is the last resort, because we want to encourage people to exercise," Cr Rudge said.
There is also concern about the penalties Cr Christian has suggested, which were to potentially fine people or confiscate their device if a ban was breached.
"I certainly think that we don't want to see where fines are being handed out, that families can't afford to pay the fines quite possibly, and I don't want to see the scooters confiscated, because what are the kids going to do? Maybe do something else they shouldn't do," Cr Rudge said.
At Wednesday's council meeting, other councillors also expressed concern about banning devices in response to the actions of a few kids, with Cr John Fry calling it "a massive reaction over half a dozen kids".
Council will soon commence its investigations and report back early next year.
The community will then have the opportunity to provide feedback on the plans, and Cr Rudge is already appealing to businesses to contact her about their concerns.
