LAVERTON residents have to catch two buses and two trains just to buy bread and milk at their local supermarket, under changes introduced by Public Transport Minister Terry Mulder and Public Transport Victoria.
Following the cancellation of their direct bus service, Laverton residents travelling about one kilometre to their IGA supermarket or medical centre have to catch a bus to Laverton railway station and then a train to Aircraft station.
As reported last month by the Weekly, Hobsons Bay Council slammed the cancellation of bus routes 413 and 416 which provided a direct bus for Seabrook and Laverton residents to Aircraft station and the Aviation Road shopping precinct.
The changes coincided with the opening of Williams Landing station on April 28.
Laverton IGA owner Michael Wen said the inconvenience for customers was killing his business. ‘‘ Our business is already going down. So many customers complain, too.’’
Laverton resident John La Mude said many elderly people regularly travelled to the Aviation Street shopping centre.
‘‘A lot them are going to the chemist, the doctor, the IGA Supermarket, the bingo … if a couple of them miss out because of the bus, their whole social network falls apart.’’
About 700 people have signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of the bus services. Students from Point Cook Senior Secondary College have started their own petition.
A community meeting will be held at Laverton Community Centre at 10am on July 13. In a letter responding to the council’s concerns, Mr Mulder stated that while bus upgrades in Wyndham had affected Laverton and Seabrook, ‘‘service rationalisation in some low-density areas is offset by significant gains Public Transport Victoria has introduced across the broader area’’.
He said the new network gave Sanctuary Lakes residents a direct bus to Williams Landing, from where they could catch a train to Werribee CBD.
Hobsons Bay councillor Luba Grigorovitch labelled Mr Mulder’s response ‘‘a disgrace’’.
‘‘He and his department should be ashamed of themselves for implementing these drastic changes to the bus service.
‘‘To say ‘passengers can then take a train to Werribee CBD’ after catching a bus to get to the station is an outrage. What about the resident who simply wants to go to the shops to buy a loaf of bread? You’re telling me that they now have to rely on two forms of public transport to get to a shop. This is a joke.’’
