Manaia's bus link to the outside world has been secured, with the Taranaki Regional Council stepping in to replace a volunteer-run service whose future was uncertain.
A new South Link service from Manaia to Hawera and return will begin on 1 December and operate weekly on Tuesdays.
The Council has contracted Hawera Taxis to operate the service using an 18-seater bus with wheelchair hoist. The bus will also call at Ohawe Beach if residents there make a booking.
For 20 years, the Manaia Community Service Committee has provided an informal shuttle service for residents, but it was facing a shortage of younger volunteer drivers, costly vehicle replacement and stricter regulatory requirements.
The Committee made a submission to the Taranaki Regional Council earlier this year seeking to have Manaia included in the South Link bus network that already connects Opunake and Waverley with Hawera, and Opunake with New Plymouth.
"We're pleased to be able to meet an obvious need and give Manaia the service it has been asking for," says the Council's Director-Operations, Rob Phillips. "At a meeting of Manaia residents last week (19 October), the proposed service and schedule won unanimous approval."
The bus will leave Tauhuri Street near the police station at 9.30am on Tuesdays, with the return service departing the Information Centre at Hawera at 1pm. Adult one-way fares will be $3 to or from Manaia and $2 to or from Ohawe Beach. School-age children will get a $1 discount and Super Gold Card holders will travel for free.
Full details of fares, times and routes are available on the South Link website — click here.
Hawera Taxis also operates the South Link services linking Waverley and Hawera (Thursdays) and Opunake and Hawera (Fridays).