By Tanya Steele
The Save the Bus Action Group of the Buxton Action Association is frustrated waiting for communication from the Department of Transport and Planning (DotP) for updates about the 684 bus route from Eildon to Melbourne.
Proposed changes to the route will mean the bus will no longer go straight to the city, instead the route will finish at Chirnside Park, where commuters will have to catch a transfer bus to Lilydale station to get to the CBD.
Carmel Denham, a convenor from the group, has been met with frustration when trying to communicate with the Department of Transport and Planning.
“I sent at least five emails last year when this was first mooted and I’ve never been able to get a response,” she said.
Since last year, Ms Denham, along with around 100 people in the Save the Bus action group, has been calling for action regarding the changes to the bus service.
The group has called and emailed the DoTP regularly but have not heard back.
The bus currently does its route in and out once a day and takes nearly three hours to get from Buxton all the way into the Melbourne CBD.
Residents that choose to commute or are unable to drive often use the service for medical appointments closer to the city.
Ms Denham is concerned residents coming home from the city will be stranded at Lilydale station if they miss the connection to the bus.
If a train is delayed commuters will then miss the only bus and may not have other means of getting home.
Ms Denham said the 684 service was also often used when commuters headed into the city for bigger events such as the garden show.
“There’s just so many times when there’s stuff happening in Melbourne that people will really fill the bus,” she said.
Last March, Ms Denham said the DoTP held a consultation in Healesville, but it was not well advertised at the time.
“A few of us showed up and we asked to have some further information sessions north of Healesville through the Spur and it was only because we insisted that they had one other information session outside of the IGA FoodWorks Alexandra and that was it,” she said.
“The very people who use the service weren’t given proper opportunities to contribute, many of those who have joined the group feel they have not been heard“.
The key issue for the Save the Bus group is the proposed removal of the service between Lilydale and Southern Cross.
The Public Transport Victoria website had updates on the 684 route on 15 and 16 March stating there would be changes to the 684 route that would be implemented by mid-2023.
The updates specified that the Yarra Valley Bus network would be streamlining four of its services into two and that changes would result in an “improved reliability for Route 684 users due to a shortened route, with every trip also serving Coldstream and running to Chirnside Park Shopping Centre.”
Eildon MP Cindy McLeish raised the matter in Parliament on Thursday 23 March calling on the DoPT to act on the community consultation feedback.
“The government has been sitting on their hands for close to a year after community consultation took place about the proposed changes to the 684 bus route,” she said.
“It is important for the community to know their feedback was heard and has been taken onboard.”
Brad Sanders, manager at McKenzies bus service, has said the company was “working with the DoTP” on the matter.
A DoTP spokesperson said future services on the Yarra Valley bus network were still being finalised following community consultation last year.
“We will continue to keep the community informed on any proposed changes to Yarra Valley bus routes,“ the spokesperson said.
The department is currently preparing a response for the Buxton Progress Association.
