By CASEY NEILL
WAITING for a bus isn’t usually a years-long task.
But that’s exactly the situation Keysborough South residents are in, with bus bays at their doorsteps yet to fulfil their purpose.
Keysborough South Action Group is kicking off a petition in a bid to change the situation, with no funding for a bus service allocated in this year’s State Budget either.
“We’re petitioning because there is nothing within three kilometres and it’s isolating the community and it’s limiting job opportunities for young people,” spokeswoman Nina Kelly said.
Keysborough South resident Josie White said her teenage son, 13, caught a private school bus to access education.
“We were looking at another school, but we didn’t choose that school because that school bus would only go to Parkmore,” she said.
She worries about his ability to access work in the near future.
“If he wants a part-time job it would be ideal if he could just get on a bus,” she said.
No bus service also limits his access to shopping and recreation time with friends at Parkmore Shopping Centre.
“You can walk there but you have to cross the bypass and Cheltenham Road, so it’s a bit of a hike to your local shops,” Ms White said.
Her eldest son needed to reach work in the city after his car broke down.
“We had to drive him to Noble Park or Westall Station,” she said.
“He would have to get a cab home if no-one was around.
“That made it really difficult.”
Her daughter studies at Australian Catholic University.
“She has to drive to the station and leave her car and then get a train,” she said.
“There’s so many houses. You’ve got the demand.”
In March the Journal reported that prior to the state election, Greater Dandenong Council had proposed a low-cost Keysborough South bus route linking schools, homes and places of worship with stations.
At the time, South Eastern Metropolitan Region Greens MP Nina Springle told Parliament that the suburb’s teenagers would become “isolated and disadvantaged in terms of work and education if they do not get a bus service soon”.
“Meanwhile, their grandparents are moving back in with the families and they need public transport, too,” she said.
Keysborough Labor MP Martin Pakula said consultations would be held this year.
“I will continue to lobby for a new route on behalf of the local community,” he said.
The petition is available at the Dandenong and Springvale libraries and the Somerfield sales office, with more locations to come.
