WARRNAMBOOL’S business community will be divided into a mixture of celebrations, bitter disappointment and apathy over the results of a feedback on the proposed promotion levy.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Just over 50 per cent of the 1330 traders and property owners who received the levy mailout lodged objections, but about 6 per cent of those were invalid.
Although the Local Government Act says the council can vote to enact the levy if there are fewer than 51 per cent of objections, the feedback is so close to that mark that it would be extremely brave to ignore the sentiment.
The focus now will be on what fledgling business representative group Commerce Warrnambool does from here after its efforts to have a widely-funded city-wide promotion levy ran into a brick wall of opposition.
The group had come up with a bold visionary plan to raise $300,000 annually with levies ranging from $100 to $300 on all business operators or owners who paid city council rates.
Will it fold as have other representative commerce groups in past decades or remain committed to its goal of promoting the city statewide and nationally to bring more customers and tourists?
Opponents will be celebrating the success of their grassroots campaign which unfortunately at times became bitter, petty and personal.
They have campaigned about tough trading times and how the proposed levy was another unwanted cost burden.
Criticism was thrown at the Warrnambool City Council, Commerce Warrnambool, landlords and other scapegoats.
The challenge for all factions now is to come up with a workable alternative that will unite rather than divide.
Instead of blinkered criticism, the city needs forward-thinking leaders who can energise the community to see beyond small-town issues and embrace the potential of a growing regional city.
Otherwise the divide that stifles our council and community will be an anchor that will weigh much more than a comparatively small levy bill.