Denmark bus bid down a dead end

The wheels have fallen off a community-driven bus service project in Denmark.

Organisers say they did not receive sufficient support from the Shire of Denmark for the community bus service, which aimed to fill the transport gap in town after the closure of the only taxi service in April.

Denmark Community Resource Centre and the Denmark Over-50s Association submitted their proposal to hire the Shire’s bus earlier this month.

But the Shire denied the group access to the bus because of plans to sell it.

Denmark CRC manager Petra Thompson said she requested $5000 from the Shire to support the project as well as approval to use the bus.

She said the proposal was not included in the Shire of Denmark’s 2019-2020 Community Financial Assistance Program.

Shire chief executive Bill Parker said the Shire supported the concept but could not let them use the bus because it had been scheduled for disposal.

“The Shire of Denmark community bus is scheduled for disposal in the 2019-20 financial year. The asset is in poor condition and will be sold as soon as possible,” he said.

Ms Thompson said despite not getting the support they wanted from the Shire, organisers would keep trying to fill the town’s transport service gap.

“I’m disappointed, of course, at the moment we are back to square one,” she said.

“We do have these public transport issues in Denmark and we just want to figure out what to do about it. We’d still like to work and see what we can do. Hopefully we can set a strategic plan in the near future for the centre and we’ll see where we can go from there.”

Denmark Over-50s Association member Chris Lendrum said elderly people were affected by the closure of the taxi service.

“We know people in Denmark who wanted this bus project to happen and will depend on them,” he said.