GAWLER Mayor Karen Redman is hoping a change in government may see the reversal of an unpopular decision to close the Gawler Driving Testing Centre.
The State Government cancelled Gawler’s Vehicle On Road Test (VORT) route back in July, 2019, when Member for Schubert Stephan Knoll was transport minister.
At the time, a Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure spokesperson said the change was prompted by a low number of driver tests being carried out in the Gawler area.
However, the transport portfolio’s new appointment of Corey Wingard as minister has rekindled Gawler’s call for a review.
Consequently, Ms Redman has sent correspondence to Mr Wingard and in August, she, along the with Gawler Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) chairman Angus Millikan, wrote to the recently elected Upper House president John Dawkins regarding the issue.
The key points of this correspondence included:
- That the decision to remove VORT testing from Gawler was done so without any public consultation.
- Consideration for the original decision be reviewed.
- That VORT is reinstated in Gawler, with a view to have Gawler as a central hub, given its regional centre function.
“I have had contact with the Honorable John Dawkins MLC, he has received our letter and he is continuing to follow up with the Government and the minister on our behalf,” Ms Redman said.
“Gawler acts as a regional Services SA destination for the Barossa, Light, Clare and Goyder regions, as well as the local Gawler area. In regional areas options for access to these types of services are generally limited.
“Removal of VORT testing in Gawler forces individuals to either travel outside the region to be tested or obtain their driver’s licence through the logbook method.
“This withdrawal of service from Gawler creates additional disadvantage to many, in particular youth in the Gawler area and the greater region.
“There is also a negative impact to a number of local small businesses who provide driver training by significantly increasing the time and cost to undertake VORT testing for their clients.
“This closure has not only impacted these businesses but also created a financial impost on parents and/or learner drivers, creating even more barriers for our young people to navigate.”
Mr Dawkins told The Bunyip he would continue to lobby for Gawler’s VORT return.
“There was a follow-up letter to me from the Mayor and YAC and I have it up with the new minister for transport and infrastructure Corey Wingard,” he said.
“I’m yet to receive a response, but I have done my best at this point and brought this matter – raised well by the Mayor and the YAC jointly – to the new minister’s attention.”