Protest over bus refusal possible
PARENTS on the Otago Peninsula may be gearing up for some form of protest action as a way to demand ‘‘fair and safe bus services’’ for their children.
Hundreds are expected to gather at Macandrew Bay School at 6.30pm tomorrow, to discuss the way forward after the Otago Regional Council refused to make minor changes to bus routes and scheduling to accommodate school commuters.
Posters have been put up around the peninsula, saying: ‘‘The Otago Regional Council has failed to listen to the concerns of parents and pupils in the Peninsula Community over the public bus service that takes 120 pupils to school every day.
‘‘Now is the time for the community to take action.’’
Otago Peninsula Community Board chairman Paul Pope said the meeting had been organised by parents and he had been asked to lead it.
‘‘This is really an opportunity for the community to take in what the ORC have said at their meeting, and it’s really a question of where they go from here and how they approach council to make changes.
‘‘Protest action is always a possibility. I think this is an opportunity to hear a range of views on where we go on that.
‘‘Everyone’s got to have a think about what they want.’’
He hoped representatives from the ORC would attend.
Schools and parents were shocked and angered by the ORC’s decision last week, to vote against minor changes to bus services which would make it safer and more userfriendly for pupils living on the peninsula.
Tahuna Normal Intermediate principal Tony Hunter said the community was not ‘‘asking for the earth’’, only for some minor changes.
‘‘Really, it’s to their benefit to have full buses. There must be a financial incentive for them to have a full bus. It appears they just don’t care.’’
He said the council needed to see the 124 school pupils who used the service, as commuters.
‘‘It is not a school bus service and all we’re saying is we want a reasonable public service that meets the needs of all our commuters.’’
The present dropoff point for Tahuna Intermediate pupils was a 1.7km walk to school, and it was similar for King’s High School and Queen’s High School pupils, he said.
Parents and schools were concerned about safety issues with pupils having to cross busy intersections, and the coming winter weather conditions.
A charter service was proving too expensive for schools to continue into term two.
The ORC appeared to have backtracked a little following last Wednesday’s meeting. Corporate services director Nick Donnelly said the council would review the timetable, to see whether adjustments could be made to better meet the needs of school commuters from the peninsula.
He said if changes could be made, they would be implemented when the new ORC bus hub became operational.
That did little to allay school or parent concerns, because the hub was not expected to be ready for months, and the issue needed to be dealt with by April 30, when term two begins.
Mr Pope believed the proposed tweaks to the schedule were ‘‘rational, realistic and pragmatic’’.
Last week, he challenged the councillors who voted against making changes to take the bus from Portobello, get off at the bus stop and make the 1.7km walk to Tahuna Intermediate, to experience what pupils were going to experience this winter.