Plea to fix Avalon public transport links

A LACK of transport links between Geelong’s northern suburbs and the growing precinct around Avalon Airport is continuing to create employment barriers for residents in the region’s most disadvantaged suburbs.

While less than a 15-minute drive from nearby Corio and Norlane, and only eight minutes by car from the closest train station in Lara, this trip quickly swells to two hours or more for those attempting to make the commute via public transport.

To reach Avalon’s employment precinct from Lara train station, commuters must hop on a Melbourne-bound train, travel past Avalon, to Wyndham Vale, take a bus to Werribee Station, and then catch a Skybus shuttle direct to Avalon Airport.

Some are instead using taxis to fill the public transport gap – an additional financial burden Real Deal Geelong community organiser Sally Fisher says can be up to $60 a day and sits against a backdrop of growing housing stress and rising energy bills and grocery costs.

She described the issue as a “huge equity issue” requiring urgent action.

“We know that unemployment is extremely high in the northern suburbs. It’s now over 20 per cent in Norlane and over 12 per cent in Corio, so we need to reduce as many of these silly barriers to people accessing work as we can.

“We’ve had feedback from the local agencies…that this barrier to access is a significant issue – 30 per cent of gforce participants and 50 per cent of Northern Futures participants are facing transport barriers to accessing work.”

The need for investment in transport solutions, including a new rail connection and bus service between Lara Station and the Avalon employment precinct, which now employs more than 2,500 people, has long been recognised.

Ahead of May’s federal election, Corio federal member and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles pledged $5 million to a feasibility survey to explore major upgrades at Avalon Airport, including options to upgrade Beach Road, the airport’s key entryway, and “improve access” to the precinct more broadly.

But Real Deal Geelong want investigating these transport links to be a key focus of the feasibility survey, while a bus service extension is trialled immediately to ensure access is improved for affected workers as soon as possible.

“It’s far more urgent than fixing the road,” Ms Fisher said.

“We don’t want to wait forever for the outcome of the feasibility study and then have to wait another five years until we see a bus delivered, when the issue’s so urgent.

“I think it really just highlights what a poverty trap the northern suburbs are. If we can’t solve these sorts of issues, it makes it exceptionally difficult for people to find their way out of poverty, if we don’t address these structural barriers that are preventing people from participating in the workforce.”

A spokesperson for the Victorian government said the public transport network was continually reviewed to identify changing traffic and travel patterns, and explore where improvements can be made.

Lara MP Ella George said getting a bus service to Avalon was her “number one priority” and promised to keep advocating until it is delivered. She said the Geelong bus network review, announced as part of this year’s state budget, would investigate how people are using the region’s buses and “what needs to change”.

“Public transport, including buses, is particularly important in Geelong’s northern suburbs where I know there are many families who rely on bus services to get the kids to school or do the weekly grocery shop.

“Community consultation will shape the future bus network… so I encourage local residents to have their say as this project progresses.”