Region. Bus reformes delayed

Darryl Melish, executive director, of the Parramatta-based BusNSW (formerly the Bus and Coach Association) said delays to the Tcard and fare changes had damaged plans for bus reform. “A number of the milestones are well behind schedule or have proved to be not practical to maintain. Bus operators want the operator benchmarking exercise to which they committed to be introduced as soon as possible and are not concerned about the delay,” he said in The Sydney Morning Herald. The paper said the State Government was failing to measure whether public and private buses run on time, even though it has spent $1.4 million so far on contracts that promised to do so.

Region. Tenders called

The Department of Planning has called for tenders for the preparation of a plan of management for the 27-kilometre long Western Sydney Parklands corridor. The Penrith-based Sydney Catchment Authority seeks to obtain the services of a panel of testing laboratories for the analysis for cryptosporidium and giardia on routine and non-routine water and sediment samples.

Region. Closure of Shoobiz stroes

About 220 workers face an uncertain future when shoe chain Shoobiz, owned by Figgins Holdings, shuts down 43 stores across Australia, four of which are in the region at Bankstown, Castle Hill, North Ryde and Parramatta. Figgins is to close 26 stores by February 20, with another 17 to close over the next three months but said it would try to find Shoobiz workers other jobs within the group. Figgins said it would also sell the Florsheim brand and re-brand its six Evelyn Miles boutiques as Midas stores.