Proposed Student Bus Service from Newstead & Maldon to Bendigo

A Community Meeting will be held WEDNESDAY – 25^th NOVEMBER at the MALDON COMMUNITY CENTRE @ 7.30pm to discuss the possibility of establishing a student bus service from Newstead and Maldon to Bendigo. 

Sandy Nevill, speaking for the Maldon & District Student Bus Planning Group, said that there were many reasons why a school bus to Bendigo with pick-up points in Newstead and Maldon was a preferred option to the current arrangements.  “At present most children are dropped off on the corner of the Calder Highway and Fogarty’s Gap Road in the morning and picked up at night,” Sandy said.  “Some are even driven up to Bendigo every day or driven to Castlemaine twice a day.  Even with car-pooling, this adds up to a lot of car trips.  And that’s not a good thing.”

A survey designed to gauge the need for a school bus service running from Newstead via Maldon to Bendigo will soon be circulated to interested people.  A group of parents has banded together to examine the feasibility of a bus service that would transport students to BRIT and La Trobe University as well as to primary and secondary schools in Bendigo.  The information gathered will be used to assist the Shire and local bus companies to plan transport requirements over the next five years. Surveys can also be picked up or returned to the MALDON & DISTRICT COMMUNITY BANK OR NEWSTEAD RTC. To read more about the proposal see an article from the Tarrengower Times and/or the expression of interest form.