Transport option welcomed
A new transport service for disabled people is being set up in South Taranaki.
Suzanne Taylor of Patea wants to provide an affordable service modelled on New Plymouth’s Ironside Society, which runs seven wheelchair-hoist equipped vans to transport disabled and elderly people.
The newly incorporated South Taranaki Passengers Services Society is based in Hawera and would be ready to go once the van it had leased from Ironside arrived this week, she said.
There is no other service provider in the district that can carry people with wheelchairs.
Without the help of family and friends, many disabled people were unable to get around, Taranaki Disabled Persons Assembly (DPA) president Shirley Hazelwood QSM, of Kaponga, said.
‘‘Without transport, a lot of us have no social life, we’re housebound,’’ said DPA committee member Judith Hellyar.
‘‘It will enrich people’s lives. There’s only a doctor at Manaia one day a week now, and Opunake is difficult too,’’ she said.
Taylor runs Patea Passenger Service, but the new venture was completely separate, she said.
Initially, she would drive the van herself, but Taylor said she intended to employ drivers and administrative staff to run the service.
‘‘We really don’t want to do this with volunteers, we want to create employment,’’ she said.
‘‘I want it to feel like something the community owns.’’
Eventually, she hoped to have vans available in various towns and to provide a district-wide service.
She was keen to make the service as cheap as possible for the passengers.
‘‘The people who need it most can’t afford it,’’ Taylor said.
Getting the new service running would be a challenge and she was looking for support from the region, she said.
Although there was a genuine need for the service, the long distances involved meant it would be difficult to run as a business.
‘‘If it was easy, someone would have done it a long time ago and made a lot of money.
‘‘We are starting with one van and we are seeking funding to pay for this leased vehicle at a per kilometre rate, so the charge for that is quite high,’’ Taylor said.
‘‘We need to bring that down. When we purchase our own van it will come down.’’
Under the Taranaki Regional Council’s Total Mobility scheme, passengers could be subsidised a maximum of $20 per trip.
There was also funding available from ACC, WINZ and the Taranaki District Health Board for some clients. Part of the new service would include sourcing this for passengers, where they were eligible, she said.
Taranaki Regional Council transport services manager Chris Clarke said he welcomed the new service.
‘‘It would be a huge bonus for the communities down that way. I’d definitely be very keen to enable that transport to be viable,’’ he said.
‘‘The more that we can collaborate and work together, the better for those communities down that way.’’
Ironside Society manager Keith Piper said he had been advising Taylor on how to set up the venture.
‘‘We’ve leased her a van to get her up and running, there’s certainly a need there from all accounts. With the GPs closing down, it’s a long way for some people to travel to Hawera and Whanganui.’’