Bored kids campaigning for a bus out of here Coast connection bid

Jessica Benton
Bored teenagers on the Bellarine Peninsula are campaigning for a bus service to the Surf Coast.
They have won the backing of government-funded body Building Bellarine Connections, which is investigating potential for a service connecting Queenscliff, Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads and Drysdale with Torquay.
Bellarine Secondary College year-nine student Nina Hamilton-Grundy instigated the campaign after surveying 700 students.
She said her survey found that 120 respondents wanted a bus service so they could reach Torquay’s surf shops and beaches.
The teenagers wanted to spend their weekends and holidays at Torquay because the town offered them more activities and entertainment, Ms Hamilton-Grundy said.
“It would make things so much easier to have to just catch one bus rather than having to spend two hours on buses into Geelong and then to Torquay,” she said.
“There’s so much stuff to do in Torquay and it gives us more options.
“If we had the buses, my friends and I would be able to spend more time over there and go shopping and surfing.
“I’ve also got lots of friends over there who I’d like to visit more often.”
Building Bellarine Connections’ Peter Hibbert, who is working on the proposed service with Ms Hamilton-Grundy, said the buses would benefit the wider community.
“While this is a youth-driven issue, of course, being a public bus, all people can have access to it.”
Mr Hibbert said the service would also link to other public transport services including the Queenscliff-Sorrento ferry and V/Line Lorne bus at Torquay.
The proposal was still in its “early days”, with an application for trials in December and January set to go before Victoria’s Department of Transport, he said.
The Geelong branch of Public Transport Users Association applauded the “grassroots” initiative.
Convenor Paul Westcott said the service was feasible.
“It’s certainly something we’d welcome and its good to see the students themselves have initiated it,” he said.
“The bottom line is that the routes need to be simple and as direct as possible to make it work.
“The service needs to avoid magical mystery trips and loops around whole towns because it becomes too difficult to understand and too time-consuming.”