Hopes high peninsula school buses at the last stop
LEGAL advice sought by the regional council may have removed the last obstacle between the peninsula community and a bus service catering for school children.
The advice, released in an Otago Regional Council report yesterday, said the changes proposed came within the scope of ‘‘minor variations’’ and would only require targeted consultation.
This comes after a meeting two weeks ago at which councillors decided to alter routes based on community concerns.
At the time, the question was raised whether that conflicted with the council’s regional public transport plan and would therefore require lengthy public consultation.
Council corporate services director Nick Donnelly said the changes required a bus to have varied routes at different times of the day, which would be consid ered a ‘‘variation’’ and therefore contradict the plan.
Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope said yesterday it was ‘‘fantastic’’ the advice said the variations were minor.
‘‘I’m stoked to hear that from the solicitor. This whole argument is about providing a service to the community. It doesn’t matter how old you are.’’
However, the legal advice also said if the change meant opening the council to accommodating other schools, wider consultation was needed.
It was a shame the council was now open to the question of setting a precedent, Mr Pope said.
‘‘I guess the peninsula is different in terms of geographical location. I don’t think that getting more kids to use public transport is precedentsetting. I think it’s a gamechanger for Dunedin.’’
The changes include two buses — one before and one after school — taking a diverted route down Shore St and Musselburgh Rise.
One bus will now leave Portobello 10 minutes earlier at 7.47am on weekdays, and an extra bus will be added at 3.08pm.
Councillors agreed to make the changes after pressure from the community, including a 960signature petition.
Concerns centred on the possibly long and dangerous walks some pupils were required to take to get to school.