Sunshine Coast bus service yet to be expanded to Meridan Plains

Residents of a growing Sunshine Coast suburb fear they have been forgotten after a promised bus service never arrived.

Residents at a growing Sunshine Coast suburb say they’re copping the “cold shoulder” from the state government amid urgent calls for a bus service.

The Department of Transport and Main Roads has been urged to get the wheels rolling on a bus service at Meridan Plains.

Kawana MP Jarrod Bleijie said residents were promised the service six months ago but it was yet to eventuate.

Retirement village resident of three years Jane Tozer said a bus service would be supported.

She said they had to walk almost a kilometre to the nearest stop.

Ms Tozer said another problem was finding transport to the hospital because taxis and rideshares often cancelled trips due to the short distance.

Jane Tozer, Glenyss Muir, Lenore Butler and Max and Judy Boland, pictured with Kawana MP Jarrod Bleijie, are some of the frustrated residents at Meridan Plains. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“I live in a retirement village and lots of people aren’t physically able to walk to the bus stop,” Ms Tozer avid.

“I think a lot of people would use it.”

A Translink spokesman said planning was “well underway” for a new bus service into Kawana Forest, Meridan Plains.

Ms Tozer said despite residents being told a bus service would be established, they had no idea when.

“There’s no timeline, that’s what is frustrating … it could be never,” Ms Tozer said.

Mr Bleijie said it had been six months since residents were promised a bus service.

The Translink spokesman said an announcement would be made “in the coming months”.

“Translink is working with the local bus operator Sunbus as well as Sunshine Coast Regional Council, and an announcement will be made in the coming months once full details of the service route, frequency and start date are finalised,” the spokesman said.

Mr Bleijie said the current service was not up to scratch with a bus from Kawana to Buderim taking about an hour and a half.

“Despite repeated requests for a timeline for implementation, the Minister and TMR are giving residents the cold shoulder,” Mr Bleijie said.

“If the state government is serious about getting more people to catch public transport, then actually providing a bus service would be a good start.”

Mr Bleijie said with the region’s low public transport use it was a good opportunity to engage with residents about timelines and how a bus service would be implemented, to ensure it was used.

“We have such a low number of the Sunshine Coast resident using public transports,” he said.

“That’s because our buses are not frequent enough and don’t go to where people want them to go. That’s if you can even get a bus service.”

It comes as the Sunshine Coast Daily revealed spending on rail and bus services at the Sunshine Coast fell $1.2bn short in comparison to what governments spent at the Gold Coast.

Meridan Plains resident Judy Boland said she had a taxi cancel a trip to the hospital last minute.

She suspected it was because the fare would have been less than $10.

“We’re stuck in limbo here,” she said.

“We moved to the (retirement) village four years ago but I’d always liked using public transport before.”