Consultation committee formed for CoastConnect

Minister for Transport John Mickel has welcomed the community coming on board the CoastConnect bus project on the Sunshine Coast.

Last night thirteen people volunteered to play an active role in further community consultation through a newly formed committee to identify the best public transport design solution aimed to deliver fast, frequent and reliable public transport to the booming region.

“The formation of this committee is a tremendous step forward and highlights the State Government’s commitment to ensuring the communities voice is heard in matters relevant to them,” Mr Mickel said.

"Nominations were received from a range of business owners and operators and residents from the community, and the final make-up of the committee will be decided this week.

"The new community committees formation represents a new level of involvement for local people who want to have their say.”

Mr Mickel said the Queensland Government was listening to the community and this committee has come about as a result of that.

“Local member Fiona Simpson’s attempts to block this important public transport development on the Sunshine Coast shows lack of leadership, lack of foresight and most importantly lack of commitment to her community,” he said.

“Her belief that 2 per cent public transport patronage on the Sunshine Coast is acceptable shows her lack of understanding of transport challenges facing the Sunshine Coast.

“While the consultation period has officially ended, the Government recognises there are elements of the draft alignment that did not fit all of the community's expectations.

“We’ve received over 260 submissions as a part of the consultation process, along with the feedback from the meeting held last night.

"The project team has also met individually with many small business operators and local residents in the area.

"These meetings are continuing, and project team members are in the area daily gathering feedback and talking to potentially affected stakeholders.”

Mr Mickel said the aim of the planning phase was to consult with the community on a draft proposal. It aims to use community feedback, ongoing technical studies and more detailed traffic modelling, to refine the plans.

"More detailed work on CoastConnect will take place over the coming months, including the preparation of a Concept Design and Impact Management Plan," he said.

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6 November 2008

Media contact: Jane Rowe 3237 1125