Elderly face 1km walk to bus stop
Retirement home residents, some of whom require walking sticks and frames, face a 1km walk to the closest bus stop if Environment Canterbury pushes ahead with a proposed route change.
Nearly 150 residents from Diana Isaac Retirement Village in Philpotts Rd, Christchurch, gathered on the steps of ECan’s offices yesterday to protest proposed changes to the Orbiter bus route and present a petition signed by about 650 people.
Changes to the route are on the cards due to the NZ Transport Agency’s Northern Corridor alterations to QEII Dr, where a central median strip will stop buses turning right in or out of Philpotts Rd.
A bus stop directly outside the village would be removed, meaning residents would need to walk about one kilometre to the nearest stop. They say that would put their health at risk.
Resident Graham Tate led the petition after ECan staff met with residents in February and told him ‘‘we’re shifting the bus stop 750 metres, you’ll just have to walk a bit further’’, he said.
Moving the bus stop could add more than a 20-minute walk for village residents and remove busing as an option for those unable to walk.
The decision ‘‘inflamed the residents’’, 83-year-old Tate said. People had to be over 70 to move into the complex and ‘‘now suddenly we’re over 80 so less and less of us are actually driving’’.
‘‘A lot of people can’t walk 750m – let alone 750m further.’’
The Orbiter changes are separate from a raft of others proposed for Christchurch’s bus routes, including six that could be axed.
Age Concern chief executive Simon Templeton said having to walk one kilometre was ‘‘an unreachable goal’’ for older people with any mobility issues, ‘‘especially if it’s a moderate issue that means they might require the use of a walking frame’’.
‘‘They shouldn’t be required or asked to do that kind of walking to get onto public transport that enables them to keep being active people in our community.’’
Another Diana Isaac resident, Ellen Archer Henke, said her key concern was residents being able to get to health appointments.
‘‘To lose that connection to medical services for us, from my perspective, would be our number one consideration,’’ she said.
Tate said pubic transport helped combat loneliness, a common problem for older people.
‘‘It’s physically and mentally important that people in a village like ours get out ... and expand their horizons.
‘‘Without public transport we can’t do that.’’
Residents proposed a detour to ECan’s new Orbiter route.
It added three kilometres from the original proposal and included a bus stop outside the village.
ECan chairman Steve Lowndes said the option was considered, but would cost about $350,000 per year.
He said changes would be made to the proposal ‘‘as a result of this demonstration’’ before the changes, expected within the next six months.
‘‘One suggestion has already been made and that is that, of the buses that are being re-routed and missing out Philpotts Rd, perhaps one in 10 or one in five can make that detour back.
‘‘It’s not going to be the same because that road layout [will] change, but we will bend over backwards to make sure that we accommodate you in one way or another.’’
Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb helped the group start the petition and said a kilometre-long walk ‘‘with your shopping isn’t good enough’’.
Templeton submitted to ECan, on behalf of Age Concern, opposing all of the proposed bus route cuts and changes.
‘‘[The cuts] are really unacceptable ... Older people often absolutely require those bus routes to stay socially connected, for their health needs, getting to their GP or to get their shopping.
‘‘Often there isn’t another affordable option at all.’’