Temuka’s community vehicle plans accelerate with grant

With 12 drivers signed up and a recent grant from Environment Canterbury, Temuka is one step closer to having a community vehicle to transport residents.

Temuka and Districts Project Trust chairperson Charles Scarsbrook said having a community vehicle in the town has been identified as a need by “doctors, hairdressers and basically every service provider in the community”.

“We’ve been trying to get it up and running for at least three years,” Scarsbrook said.

After being in the incubation phase for a while, the project is now advancing with a newly formed Temuka Community Vehicle Trust, consisting of Scarsbrook and six other locals, and a $10,000 grant from ECan, which it received last Friday.

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While the first grant will assist with the purchase of a vehicle, an ECan spokesperson said the grants will be an annual affair.

“Environment Canterbury provides an annual grant to help CVTs [community vehicle trusts] with maintaining and replacing their vehicles,” the spokesperson said.

Across Canterbury, there are already 16 CVT set up, and 25,060 passengers have been transported from A to B in the past year through the services, the spokesperson said.

The passengers were transported around by volunteer drivers with the 12 signed up to the Temuka service in the process of undergoing medical examinations to double-check they are fit to be drivers.

“I’m pretty convinced once we’ve got it up and running, there will be more people come on board,” Scarsbrook said.

The project could be up and running as soon as September, he said.

“We’re just waiting for additional funding to cover the cost of the vehicle,” Scarsbrook said.

Scarsbrook previously told The Timaru Herald, there is no public transport or taxi service in Temuka, so residents are limited to where they can walk.

This initiative will provide all interested residents with a way to get around Temuka, with the trust also intending on providing trips to Timaru, for a low price.

“There will be no discrimination, it’s for all the community to use,” Scarsbrook said.

While the trust had previously said it was after a 7-seater van, after further research it believes a 5-seater would be better suited for the community’s needs and “fits within their money”.