LBV bus issue draws huge crowd to council meeting
Wednesday May 20, 2009
A large cross section of the Cobar community packed the gallery at last Thursday’s
committee meetings of Cobar Shire Council to hear about the future of the Lilliane Brady Village bus.
The Lilliane Brady Village (LBV) will retain full control of its bus, and Cobar Shire Council will investigate the purchase of another community bus.
The recommendations were made at last Thursday’s Cobar Shire Council community facilities committee meeting where a packed gallery was on hand to hear the decision on the bus.
Councillors resolved to leave the LBV bus under the full control of the village staff; for the staff to confirm a protocol for the use of the bus; and for the bus to be included in council’s plant replacement program.
A petition of more than 500 signatures, 15 letters from community members, as well as meeting minutes and correspondence from prior to when the bus was purchased were all presented to the council meeting as supporting evidence that the bus should be under the control of LBV staff.
According to reports to the meeting, the
bus had been hired by Homecare on a number of occasions for use around Cobar, however the current issue arose when the bus was
hired by Homecare to be used for a trip to Dubbo.
LBV staff had rejected the request for the bus to be driven to Dubbo, however the decision was overruled.
At last week’s meeting, councillors adopted a notice of motion from Cr Brady to purchase a community bus with disabled access at a cost of $180,000.
Some councillors raised concerns that “things are moving too fast” with the purchase of a new bus, with Cr Peter Yench among those calling for further investigations before the money is allocated.
An amount of $45,000 has now been allocated towards the bus in the 2009-10 council budget, with a further $45,000 allocated in the 2010-2011 budget.
It is hoped a government grant will be awarded to pay for the remainder, however council also resolved to pay the remaining cost if funding applications are unsuccessful.
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