More than 100 people – clad in red T-shirts – took to the streets to give the campaign for better access at Unanderra station a lift.
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Tagged ‘Bridge the Bridge’, the walk – from Unanderra station to the new Nan Tien Temple bridge – was designed to coincide with the official opening of the structure over the M1 Princes Motorway.
Wollongong MP Paul Scully said the Buddhists at the temple wanted to help raise awareness of the need for lifts at the station on the day of the bridge opening.
“The temple are huge supporters of the lifts being built because the they get a lot of people who wish to visit the temple but can’t get up and down the stairs,” Mr Scully said.
“Oftentimes they get off the train, look at what’s in front of them and turn around, sit down and wait for the next train to go back home.”
Mr Scully said more than 150 people turned up for the walk on Saturday morning, which showed “there is certainly still a groundswell of support out there for the Unanderra station lifts”.
While proximity to tourism locations is one of the Transport for NSW criteria for prioritising the installation of lifts, the government body has previously pointed out there is a fully accessible bus route that runs between Wollongong and the temple.
“That’s one aspect of travelling to the temple,” Mr Scully said.
“People use Unanderra station for a whole range of other travels as well. They use it to travel to work every day, they use it to get to the industrial estates or to organisations nearby like Flagstaff who need disabled access.”
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian was at the bridge opening and Mr Scully said “she would have driven past the group on her way into the temple grounds”.
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
