CROSS PENINSULA BUS SERVICE - WHY NOT SOMERVILLE?

Somerville Business Group Inc. actively encourages all levels of government to endorse policies that make Somerville a better place to Shop, Work, Invest and Play.

In April 2023 the State Government committed to the following-:

 “A HASTINGS to Mornington bus service is one step closer after the state government announced an extra $36.4 million in this year’s budget to improve bus services in growth areas.” Per https://www.mpnews.com.au/2023/05/29/mps-all-aboard-with-bus-service-promise/

Currently we are being asked to respond to, what we consider, the first public request on what is termed “Hastings and Mornington Bus Planning”.

Per https://engage.vic.gov.au/hastings-and-mornington-bus

We encourage everyone from Somerville to go online and share your thoughts on whether a Cross Peninsula/ Hastings and Mornington Bus Service should or should not include Somerville.

Quite often people say Somerville misses out, we are on the wrong side of the Peninsula, when is it our turn, etc etc.

Please look at the population numbers below to help you with these questions.

Somerville has a larger population combined than Hastings and Tyabb.

Somerville has a higher percentage of people under 30 years of age.

Somerville has a lower median age than Hastings and Tyabb.

These are facts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Statistics can be manipulated to suit the outcome, so we will leave this up to you to interpret them as you see fit.

We would suggest that younger people (under 30 years of age) are more likely to use public transport than those over 30 years of age.

		Under 30	%	Over 30	%	Total		Median Age
Somerville		5661	36.2%	9972	63.8%	15633		40
	https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/POA3912
Tyabb		1240	36.0%	2209	64.0%	3449		42
	https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/POA3913
Hastings		3722	34.7%	7001	65.3%	10723		42
	https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/quickstats/2021/POA3915
Combined T & H		4962	35.0%	9210	65.0%	14172		42
Balnarring (for comparison)
		724	30.5%	1647	69.5%	2371		46
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics Census 2021

In a further development in the Sunday Herald Sun dated 8th September 2024, on Page 63, the article “SRL FIXATION IS LEAVING GROWING REGIONS BEHIND” states “One bright spot earlier this year was the announcement of 500 new bus services from Torquay to Geelong.”

We are asking for one, maybe 2 bus services (the article is not clear on what constitutes a “bus service”) on the Peninsula.

There is certainly a lot of food for thought.

Questions for Somerville people to consider-:

·       Are you happy with just a Mornington to Hastings via Tyabb bus service?

·       Should the bus service include Somerville?

·       Should there be a second service exclusively incorporating Somerville via another route?

·       Is the $36.4 million being well spent by the State Government?

·       Will the Cross Peninsula Bus Service make Somerville a better place to Shop, Work, Invest and Play?

Please go to https://engage.vic.gov.au/hastings-and-mornington-bus and voice your opinion.

David Livingstone

Secretary

Somerville Business Group Inc.

10th September, 2024.