BERWICK
Thursday, 14 March, 2024
berwicknews.starcommunity.com.au
/berwickstarnews
@StarNews_SE
40¢ Inc. GST
Bright fundraiser
Women unite for contest
Volunteer honoured
Swans set to soar
PAGE 4
PAGE 6
PAGE 19
SPORT
Reflecting on inclusion Clyde North’s Balla Balla Community Centre invited women to answer the question ‘what makes you feel included?’ to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day. Arts and crafts, educational workshops and morning tea made for a lovely morning of reflection and togetherness for the attendees. Story page 18
Inclusion is all about “a friendly greeting” for Cathy. 389979 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
Seeking shelters By Ethan Benedicto With the passing of the sweltering weekend, complaints from public transport users have become commonplace with the lack of shelters at bus stops. In the City of Casey, there are a total of 1165 bus stops, however only 442 of those have shelters; with 295 owned and maintained by the State Government and 147 green shelters maintained by the council. A resident said that while she would like to see more shelters, she was “probably more concerned for people with disabilities, trying to cope with things like the weather and such”. “When there isn’t a bus shelter they’re most likely going to be the least understanding as to why there isn’t one to begin with,” she said. Another Cranbourne North local said that her concern was more on safety, that “people
are on the side of the road and you’d want the shelter to make it obvious that there’s a person there”. “But of course the weather, it could be in the middle of winter and you don’t want to get caught in the rain or be standing too long out there because what if you get wet and you’re on your way to work or school,” she said. Paul Westcott, from the Public Transport Users Association, said that the issue is longstanding and would require proper collaboration between local councils and the Department of Transportation and Planning. “The responsibility of bus stops and bus shelters is shared between the local council and the DTP under the Transport Integration Act,” he said. With his previous role of 15 years being Geelong’s branch convenor, Mr Westcott is now the PTUA’s regional spokesperson, cover-
ing areas of public transportation throughout Victoria. “The problem is whenever you contact the council and say that people have been saying that they want a shelter here, they will tell us that they don’t have sufficient money to do it because the DTP hasn’t given them the funds. “When you contact the DTP they’ll tend to just tell you that they’ve given the council xamount of dollars over the last 12 months and it’s their job to put the shelters on their behalf,” Mr Westcott said. He summarised the situation as a “buckpassing exercise” where the bus travellers are the ones caught in the middle of the commotion. According to the Department of Transport, the City of Casey has been a member of the department’s Bus Shelter Agreement (BSA) since 2007 and is also included in the recent contract
which refreshed and commenced in March 2024. “We’ve been working closely with the City of Casey Council to install bus shelters and deliver a safe, convenient public transport experience for the community,” a DTP spokesperson said. Mr Westcott said that while his 15 years of experience had been concentrated in Geelong, throughout the same period he found that the same situation can be observed throughout multiple councils in the state. “Officially it’s the job of the State Government to provide shelters, but they’ve always relied on councils. “The DTP doesn’t have squads of people that can do the job so they contract it out, they rely on local councils and they do provide money, but these councils always say it’s not enough,” he said. Continued page 2
NEW LOTS NOW SELLING
Pakenham, Yarra Junction and Narre Warren Offices P 5941 5166
Lot sizes from 512 to 1,193m2 . Pricing from $265,000 to $350,000.
DINE IN & TAKE AWAY 7 Days a Week One Fine Day Cafe 16b Old Princes Highway Beaconsfield
1300 WONTHAGGI (966 842) parklandswonthaggi.com.au 12665019-MS06-24
12673656-SM10-24
OPEN FOR BUSINESS! For in office consults. Online consults still available.
12588391-ET05-23
• FIXED PRICE CONVEYANCING • CONTESTING A WILL • WILLS AND POWERS OF ATTORNEY • PROBATE AND LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION