CHB driver licencing - one year on

Some of the Connect Youth and Community Trust driver licencing team celebrating one year of licencing in CHB; driving instructors Glenn Bartlett and Matt Hemi, High School co-ordinator Monique Sandford, general manager Kelly Annand and community coordinator Michelle Mullins.

One year after Central Hawke’s Bay regained its driver licencing testing, Connect Youth and Community Trust has had 407 people tested through its driver licencing system.

General manager Kelly Annand said it had been about 19 years since driver licence testing was centralised, and taken out of smaller communities such as Central Hawke’s Bay.

Throughout that time, drivers have had to be taken to Hastings or Dannevirke to take their driving test - a big ask in terms of time, fuel and inconvenience, which has in some cases left drivers unable to take their test.

Connect Youth and Community Trust has been fighting to bring driver licence testing back to CHB for 11 years and Kelly says the past year’s results have shown how much it was needed.

“We not only got the ability to licence drivers, but we got our own community testing officer, outside of the VTNZ system, as part of a five-year pilot scheme for a Driver Licencing Improvement Programme. We were incredibly lucky, and if the community testing model is successful it will be rolled out to other communities.

“VTNZ is testing as well, using the old model, with an outside testing officer coming to the Waipukurau Library on Wednesdays. They have put through about 500 people in the year since testing returned to CHB - that’s a lot of time and fuel saved through people not having to travel to Hastings or Dannevirke.”

Connect Youth and Community Trust offers driving lessons, support, and the use of the Connect cars for driver licence testing.

Kelly says having their own community testing officer means there is some flexibility and understanding. “There’s a community aspect that is so vital. We can help them succeed. If someone fails their test we can give them another lesson, then book them straight back in for re-testing. There’s no six-week wait like there used to be for Dannevirke testing.

“We’re breaking down barriers to make getting a licence easier, setting people up for success and keeping them out of the justice system.

“There’s something to be said for being tested in your own home environment. We need to know our drivers are confident and safe in the town they live in, before they venture further.”

Connect Youth and Community Trust also runs the only programme in New Zealand that works with every college student when they turn 16, giving them the chance to get their licence before they leave school.

The trust has recently added Class 2 vehicle training - wheels, tracks and rollers - to its programmes.

“We were very ready for that as a community, especially in the light of all the cyclone recovery work to be done. It’s important that we have these skills in our community,” Kelly says.

“The 11 years we spent fighting for licencing were such a slog, but anything worth having is worth fighting for. It’s tiring but you have to show up - and it’s an honour to be part of this success.

“We wake up every morning wanting to make life better for others, and not everyone gets to see the result of their hard work. It’s the coolest thing.”

“A huge thanks to our community partners in this - Waipukurau New World, Waipukurau Rotary and Centralines.”