Bus service for poverty-stricken suburbs
By Andrew Limbe
Petone?s bus route 130 could be changed in a bid to beat crime and reconnect a poverty-stricken suburb with the rest of the foreshore. After what a police iwi liaison officer calls a ?disgusting? length of time Petone?s East Street and Scholefield Street communities could be about to get a bus service. In a report to the Petone Community Board, Hutt City Council senior traffic engineer Wayne King said the new 130 route would switch from Jessie Street to Scholefield. Police iwi liaison officer for Lower Hutt Taraia Gage said petty crime and anti-social behaviour would decrease if one of Petone?s poorest areas had access to public transport. Mr Gage said the approximately 800 residents of Scholefield and East Streets exhibited the characteristics of social severance, commonly manifested in petty crime. The streets had been without a bus service for 27 years ? with drivers and bus companies originally intimidated by the Mongrel Mob presence in the area, he said. But he said it was disgusting the people in the streets had to wait so long for a service. He believes the lack of social service offices and direct public transport to Pak?n Save at the western end of Jackson Street were partly responsible for anti-social behaviour. However senior constable Andy Smith said he does not see this as a direct crime reduction measure. ?It is not to reduce crime, it is just about getting services to this community. ?Bus stops are one of the things that Te Huinga o te Whanau, a community engagement group, has been trying to achieve for some time.? Greater Wellington Regional Council spokeswoman Philippa Lagan said the council had developed changes to the route and bus stop locations. ?We are waiting on Hutt City Council to make a decision about whether or not they want to proceed with the changes.? Community board chairman Gerald Davidson believes the changes would be positive. ?Many of these people are poor and don?t have cars and it is a minor change in the context of the changes in the last two years. ?The rerouting of the bus through Moera was a much bigger change and was very popular, resulting in a huge increase in the use of public transport.? Mr King, from the city council, said there could be resistance to the changes. ?There is always opposition to new bus stops. ?Residents do not want people standing around right outside their houses and people think they can be places where undesirables gather.? Council officers have initiated consultation with residents affected by three of the six necessary changes. The report states is could be difficult to get full support from people affected by the two new bus stops required in Jackson Street.
