Will the bus come?
EVERYONE is on the lookout for extra money these days but the Tarwin Lower and Venus Bay communities have a particularly good reason for doing so.
The members of the Venus Bay, Tarwin Lower and District Men’s Shed want to buy a community bus so residents and groups can access shops and services in bigger towns.
They have researched potential vehicles and written a business plan to ensure their project will be viable.
All they need is money to buy the bus and are aiming for $60,000. They have $10,000 in pledges so far.
The project – Bus About Town – will be run by an auspicing group that will operate under the men’s shed.
Group member Doug Grigg said the need for such a bus was evident.
“It’s there to overcome the lack of public transport which is very scarce down here for people that need to do shopping and attend appointments,” he said.
The bus could run as often as need be, taking people to the regional centres of Leongatha and Wonthaggi. Groups like the Tarwin Lower Football Club will be able to use the bus for several days at time if they like.
The communities are clearly aging. According to the 2011 Census, 250 people aged 65 and over lived in Tarwin Lower and Venus Bay.
“We are finding more and more elderly people can’t drive but if they are staying in their homes and we can provide them with a service, that is great,” said another project leader, Colin West.
“$60,000 will keep a lot of people in their homes.”
Passengers and organisations will be asked to pay an annual joining fee of $100 to join a club and then make a donation per trip. The men have calculated that will provide the service with an income of $14,000 a year. More money could be raised through sponsorship.
The bus will be owned by the men’s shed and being a 12-seater, will be able to be driven by anyone with a car licence. The vehicle will be garaged at the Tarwin Lower Community Health Centre.
“It could start off at two days a week. As it gains momentum, we would only be too happy to fit in with what people want,” Mr Grigg said.
“When the bus goes into Leongatha, we will have to go to Koonwarra as well and if it goes to Wonthaggi, we could pick people up at Inverloch as well.”
Mr West added, “We could link in with the V/Line service at Inverloch too, if people needed to catch the V/Line bus early.”
The men have been in touch with Centrelink, and said the agency has authorised welfare recipients to drive or clean the bus in return for their benefits.
The bus could also be useful during an emergency, given Venus Bay is one of the highest fire risk areas in the state, men’s shed president John Hyett said.
“If it was going to be a Code Red Day and the CFA says we should be getting people out early, we could use the bus to get people out,” he said.
“The problem is there is only one road out of the place and there is no neighbourhood safer place.”
To donate or find out more about the bus, phone Mr Hyett on 5663 7078.
Looking ahead: hoping for a community bus to arrive in Tarwin Lower and Venus Bay are, from left, John Hyett, Colin West and Doug Grigg. They are members of the Venus Bay, Tarwin Lower and District Men’s Shed that wants to operate a community bus.
Short URL: /?p=13782
Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Feb 17 2015. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
