By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
COULD this be a Rosa Parks moment for Dandenong senior citizens?
A Dandenong North pensioner, deliberately abandoned by a community bus driver at a shopping centre last year, has taken Greater Dandenong Council to the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Grace Willans had been bringing a shopping jeep aboard the bus on weekly shopping centre trips since last March. On October 5, the bus collected her and her jeep from home and dropped her off at Waverley Gardens shopping centre.
But on the return leg, the driver told her no such jeeps were allowed — and she could not board the bus.
Ms Willans, 82 and legally blind, asked a shop owner to direct her to a taxi rank, where she rang and waited two hours for a cab.
After the incident the council launched a review of its ‘no shopping trolley’ policy but Ms Willans isn’t waiting around for the outcome, expected in April.
Rosa Parks was an Arican-American woman who famously, on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to obey a bus driver ‘s order that she give up her seat in the colored section of a bus to a white passenger, after the white section was filled.
In taking her case to the VHREOC, Ms Willans does not blame the drivers, who she says are “excellent gentlemen”.
“I’m fighting against the whole damned council,” she said. “We are vulnerable elderly citizens and they are pushing us around.”
Last Tuesday, she met council representatives at the VHREOC for a confidential conciliation hearing. She and the council cannot discuss what was said at the hearing.
Ms Willans said up until that meeting, she had not heard an apology from the council. Instead she claims the bus rules have gotten harsher.
She said a community bus driver last month reduced her two-shopping bag limit to one bag. He indicated there would also be a 15-kilogram baggage limit.
“One shopping bag! How can you eat for a week out of that?” she said. “Why call it a shopping trip if you can’t do your shopping?”
Sue Hendy, chief executive of Council on the Ageing Victoria, said the case seemed an abuse of human rights.
“The council are saying we’re providing a free service to go shopping but they’re giving with one hand and taking with the other. [Grace] has not been treated fairly.”
Last week, Greater Dandenong community services director Mark Doubleday said the council had apologised “with sincere regret regarding the unfortunate experience”.
He denied there had been any change in rules in the past year, though there had been “inconsistency” in allowing shopping jeeps on the bus.
Mr Doubleday said mobility aids — such as walkers — were encouraged and could be stored in the rear of the bus, but shopping jeeps were a safety hazard.
’’Shopping jeeps are not included on the basis of OH&S as they could weigh more than an allowable limit for a bus driver to handle. They have also not been included to limit the risk of heavy objects being unsecured in the bus.’’
Ms Willans said she’d offer to carry the jeep onto the minibus, where it could be tied down inside the rear storage cage.“I told the driver if you don’t want to carry my trolley on, I’ll do it. They used to just pull the trolley on with one finger.’’
What do you think? Post a comment below.
For all the latest breaking news, stay with this website. Also, follow the Weekly at facebook.com/dandenongjournal or on Twitter @DandyJournal.
