Community consultation on the Bendigo Metro Rail project will kick off next week, to gather feedback from Bendigo and surrounding communities on the project.
Minister for Public Transport and Member for Bendigo East, Jacinta Allan, said the views of the local community would be critical in designing Bendigo Metro, which will deliver a commuter train service for Bendigo with increased services running from Epsom, Eaglehawk and Kangaroo Flat to Bendigo.
Feedback gathered from the community will help to inform the recommendations report which will be prepared by the project's Community Consultative Taskforce and Technical Working
Group.
Chaired by local Labor MP, Maree Edwards, the Community Consultative Taskforce was established to provide recommendations on likely demand for the service, service frequency, coordination with buses, infrastructure requirements and promotion of new services.
Community drop-in sessions for Bendigo Metro Rail will be held at Eaglehawk on 30 April, Epsom on 2 May, Kangaroo Flat on 16 May and Bendigo on 20 May. Community members can drop in anytime during a session to speak one-on-one with a project and Community Consultative Taskforce representative, learn more about the project and find out how to submit feedback.
The submission period for Bendigo Metro Rail will be open until 31 May 2015 and all feedback will be considered in the recommendations report that will be submitted to Government by 30 June 2015.
As the project will be complemented by the bus network, Minister Allan also announced today that the second round of consultation on the Bendigo bus network will occur concurrently with the Bendigo Metro consultations.
Consultations for the bus network will commence in mid-May with a stakeholder reference group. Community consultation will occur in late May. Feedback received from previous sessions has been taken into account and the proposed routes have been changed in response.
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Public Transport, Jacinta Allan
"Community consultation on Bendigo Metro Rail will provide an opportunity for locals and those who will use the service to have their say."
"It is vital that the Community Consultative Taskforce works with Bendigo and the surrounding communities to find out how the service can best suit their needs."
Quotes attributable to the Member for Bendigo West, Maree Edwards
"Bendigo needs an improved public transport system to support our growing city and allow people living in the regions to easily access Bendigo's CBD."
"I look forward to hearing from the community over the coming weeks to find out what they want out of this project."
Reviewed 19 August 2020