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Bus Review Results Kept Under Wraps Nationals Member for Morwell Russell Northe has said he is disappointed in the Brumby Government for refusing to release the results of the Latrobe Valley Bus Service Review, completed in December 2009. By Russell Northe - 18th October 2010 - Back to News A letter from the Minister for Public Transport states that the review was completed by the Department of Transport (DOT) in December 2009, but recommendations are currently being assessed by DOT and "until this process is complete, it is not possible to release the Latrobe Valley Bus Service Review report to the public."
Mr Northe, who provided a submission on behalf of the community to the review, as well as speaking in Parliament on the issue, said the Brumby Government is again ignoring the needs of the Latrobe Valley community by not releasing details of the recommendations in a timely manner.
"The history of this review goes back over some time. On 15 August 2008, the Latrobe Valley Express published an article about the upcoming Latrobe Valley Bus Service Review. This included a quote from the then Minister for Public Transport who encouraged people to have their say on the make-up of a future bus service in Latrobe City, to participate in the workshops and to make a submission.
"26 months have now passed since the then Minister for Public Transport first announced this important review and we still have no detail of what is contained within the document.
"In response to my recent letter to the Minister for Public Transport he writes that $11.4 million has been committed to improve town bus services in the Latrobe Valley through the Blueprint for Regional Victoria; a proportion of this is allocated for the implementation of recommendations from the Latrobe Valley Bus Review.
"However there is no specific detail as to the amount of money that will be allocated to the Latrobe Valley, nor any detail on what bus services will be improved as a consequence.
"Community members, businesses, and organisations put a lot of effort into ensuring their submissions highlighted their concerns and ideas on what could be improved in our region. This lack of transparency is frustrating, along with the lengthy wait.
"I am regularly approached by members of the public and community groups who bemoan the need to improve bus services in the Latrobe Valley.
"Some of these concerns relate to the need to extend operational bus hours including weekends; improve linkages between rail and bus services; better access to educational facilities and the desire to improve links between smaller communities and larger towns within the Latrobe Valley.
"The delay in releasing this document by the Brumby Government is appalling, and the Latrobe Valley community deserves better."
Media: Russell Northe 0408 22 55 23 / Julia Auciello 5133 9088
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: news@gippsland.com
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