Council, parking not to blame for retail woes: Mayor

Mayor Gary Brennan has called on retailers to not blame Bunbury City Council or paid parking for an economic downturn happening around the world.

The comment came after discussion was at times heated and passionate during last week’s CBD Planning Forum where several options – including paid parking – were revealed for the city’s future parking strategy.

The Retail Co is lobbying hard for the parking meters to be “ripped out all together” and its members are “very concerned” about the options, according to founder Cheryl Kozisek.

Mr Brennan said he believed some businesses were not looking internally and putting too much blame on parking.

“What I observed (at the forum) – and I’ve seen it before – there’s a few retailers, small business people in our CBD who are experiencing and have been experiencing financial challenges,” he said.

“And they’re looking at factors which they believe contributed to that, but they’re failing to look within their own business as what they can do to make a difference.

“The retailing model has changed enormously and if you don’t change and be adaptive and nimble, you’re going to be a casualty and parking is not the issue.”

He said the retail situation was not “unique” to Bunbury and places like Perth, Busselton and even Surfers Paradise were experiencing the same issues.

“It’s happening, wherever you go you see it, it’s just a fact of life, there’s transition happening, there’s a difference in retailing happening,” he said.

“At the same time, Australia’s household debt is the highest it’s been for many, many decades, it is huge.

“What the businesses have to do – and we use Hungry Hollow as an example – they’ve got to look at innovative and creative ways to get people into their business and keeping them there ... they’re the ones that are surviving.

“It’s very, very competitive, it’s very tough, no question, but don’t blame the city council or parking, there’s a whole raft of issues.”

Mrs Kozisek said its members knew the market was tough and parking was only one aspect.

“It’s a tough market at the moment and it’s not just here in Bunbury, it is everywhere,” she said. “You’ve got to do everything to attract a potential customer and part of that is parking.

“It’s not the only issues that retailers and the CBD are dealing with, there’s no doubt about that but it is something we can have control over if we choose to.”