After tireless advocacy, the Mount Atkinson Advocacy Forum is celebrating the inclusion of a new local bus route in the state budget while continuing the push for more local services.
As reported by Star Weekly, the budget included funding for new local bus routes, including Route 140, which will travel from Rockbank station to Tarneit station via Mt Atkinson.
Mt Atkinson Advocacy Forum volunteer Pawan Kaur said that the inclusion follows three years of community advocacy.
“A few like-minded people joined together to raise their concerns about how life is very difficult without access to basic services … without any public transport network here,” Ms Kaur said.
“Locals used to call this area ‘The Mt Atkinson Island’ because it’s not connected,” she said.
“With the announcement in this latest budget, that was a huge win, and it’s definitely going to make people’s life easier here,” Ms Kaur said.
Kororoit MP Luba Grigorovitch said that it was “incredibly rewarding” to see the new routes included in the budget and that she had previously raised the issue in parliament.
“It’s a major win for our community, and for all the residents who’ve worked with me, raised their voices, and backed this campaign,” Ms Grigorovitch said.
Ms Kaur said there is still “a lot of work to be done” in Mount Atkinson.
“We still don’t have any local shops, any healthcare, we don’t have any sports facilities … some of the items are sitting with the councils waiting for approvals. These things need to be prioritised. This is a basic need,” she said.
Melton director of city futures Sam Romaszko said the council was “committed to working with developers and the [state] to provide residents with access to the services and infrastructure they need.“
She said planning permits had been recently issued for two yet-to-be-constructed child care centres in Truganina and planning applications under consideration include convenience and retail centres and another child care centre.
