Local community activists make the difference

_{28, April 2006}

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Local community activist and Samford Valley resident, Gillian Blacket.

The “Samford Bus” success story on the front page of the Village Pump on 13 April was a great yarn and pictured three handsome blokes but was minus an important member of the team.  Gillian Blacket was pre-eminent among the many people who helped get the bus rolling and has remained involved from start to finish.

Gillian first raised the idea with me at the Christmas party for the Closeburn- Cedar Creek Rural Fire Brigade in 2002.  As parents of four  young boys, Gillian and her husband Stuart were exhausted from driving the boys over the Samford range and back every time they wanted to escape the Valley.  Gillian cornered me and wanted to know how they could go about getting a bus service from Samford to the Ferny Grove station.

It was clear that information was needed to see whether enough locals would make a bus service worthwhile and then some idea about where any money would come from to set the whole thing up.

As the local State MP, I was the one who would have to argue the case with the Transport Minister and the involvement of local Shire Councillor Bob Millar, was also essential to smooth the passage through the Pine Rivers Shire Council.  Both Bob and I were delighted to be involved.  Before the State Government funded a bus service they would need evidence that the community would support such a service and that it would be a worthwhile financial investment.

To bring other interested Valley residents together to explore this I convened the Samford Public Transport Group.    The inaugural group included motivated local residents Hilary Smith  and Tristan Peach, Raewin Mannix from the Retirement Village, John Lilley representing the Progress Association and a representative from Brisbane Bus Lines . They met regularly and decided that what was needed was a survey of the Samford community to get some facts and evidence to convince the State Government that putting money into a trial Samford bus service, ultimately $60,000, would show a commitment to the needs of local residents. 

This set off a host of activities by the Transport Group including collecting and analyzing survey results, putting proposals together, organizing a public meeting, testing options and arguing the case with Government.  Young University post graduate Tristan Peach did marvelous work on the survey. Harry Audus from Translink was also a vital part of the plan, especially with the complex technical and legal processes that were involved. This was the first of such trials organized by Translink and they were excited by the community support and the activism by the local Samford Public Transport Group as shown by Gillian’s involvement.

The result, after much hard work is the approval of a permanent service by the Minister for Transport, the Hon Paul Lucas MP but the reality is that without the involvement of locals like Gillian it would have just remained “a good idea” instead of the real-life bus service we have today. 

Thanks Gillian!

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