Bus petition denied meeting time
A DELEGATION of Dunedin school representatives and parents, armed with a petition urging the Otago Regional Council to revise the Otago Peninsula bus service, has been denied permission to speak at an ORC meeting in Cromwell tomorrow.
The petition, signed by about 800 residents, asks council to make minor alterations to the routes and timetables so the public bus service also works for the 124 school pupils on the Otago Peninsula who use it.
It also reminded councillors that pupils were commuters.
Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope said he was overwhelmed by the response to the petition.
‘‘We’ve had fantastic support for this whole thing. The community has really drawn together on this.’’
Mr Pope drew comparisons to a recent petition which was successful in getting the ORC to change the Wakari bus service.
‘‘It only had 200 signatures. Interestingly enough, they got a complete change of route.’’
He said the peninsula community was only asking for minor changes to the route and timetable.
An ORC spokeswoman said permission to present the petition and speak at the meeting was denied because the council
❛ The council can’t just keep sweeping this under the carpet. People are making a noise now
agenda was full.
She said council chief executive Sarah Gardner and chairman Stephen Woodhead would meet principals and board of trustees representatives from Bayfield, King’s, Queen’s and Tahuna schools today, and suggested it would be ‘‘worthwhile to await the outcome of this meeting’’.
She invited the delegation to apply to speak at public forum for the next committee meeting on May 2.
Parent Jason Graham was disappointed with the council response.
He said the petition showed there were a significant number of people keen to see improvements made to the bus service.
‘‘Feedback in the petition shows there’s definitely a lot of frustration, disappointment and anger, and a lot of people are quite vocal about what they would like to see happen.
‘‘The council can’t just keep sweeping this under the carpet. People are making a noise now.’’
Mr Graham said he had created an online survey which found many parents on the peninsula did not plan to put their children on the bus service next term because it did not travel at times or on a route that suited them.
However, it also found that if the ORC made minor changes to the route and scheduling, many more parents would use the service.
Tahuna Normal Intermediate principal Tony Hunter said the community had ‘‘stepped up a gear’’, and its voice would only get stronger.
‘‘The community is quite a hardnosed community and I think they will keep digging at it.’’
john.lewis@odt.oc.nz