Community-led transport suggested for Coast

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

A Botswana local living in Ūawa has suggested the district council operate a locally-led bus service along the East Coast.

Thabiso Mashaba, an Edmund Hillary Fellow, told the “Let’s Talk Transport” hearing on Thursday it could be locally run, but regulated by the council.

Edmund Hillary Fellows are a community of 500-plus people who are committed to making New Zealand “a basecamp for global impact”.

Mashaba, who did his masters thesis on environmental economics and environmental accounting, said he hoped to see Gisborne’s transport system move away from “big buses”.

Jobs could be created this way, and he had seen it done in his own country, he said.

“Anyone who has a minivan or a bus will be able to contribute.”

He is one of the innovators behind Slash for Cash, a community-led project that turns forestry slash into nutrient-rich fertiliser for soil.

Under his idea, buses would be set up to be community-run, creating jobs and bringing tourism to the coast.

“The government just serves as a regulator,” he said.

The government would issue a certain number of permits based on the need, set up the routes, and label the buses and plate numbers so that people could identify them.

“In my country you can drive for many kilometres and not see a soul, just animals and grass . . . and maybe elephants,” he said.

This made it difficult for the government to reach some of the people through services, while in New Zealand “there are many pockets of people who you can visit in one go”.

“Each time I think about coming to Gisborne, sometimes I get demoralised, but if there was a bus going up and down . . . I would be here every day,” he said.

The option could also boost tourism and revenue collected by the council to maintain roads, he said.

“You issue the permits that the buses pay to you and you can use that to service the roads,” he said.

Councillor Ani Pahuru-Huriwai, who lives in Wharekahika/Hicks Bay, said she was “really interested”.

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi regional relationships director Linda Stewart wanted to know the number of anticipated passengers.

“Are we talking about 10 people or 400?”

Mr Mashaba said he had spoken to people informally in Ūawa and from this believed “many people would appreciate a bus service”.

At the moment there was only Cooks Couriers, “and if that passes you, you need to find a lift”, he said.

People needed transport to access crucial services, he said.

Cr Pahuru-Huriwai said when you live on the Coast “you end up being the courier, the Uber, and the taxi for everyone who lives up there and needs a ride”.

Councillors moved recommendations to better reflect the importance of east coast/rural public transport issues.