Politics & Council
6 March, 2024
Second shop owner in closure protest
THEY’VE beaten me, Inglewood businesswoman Carey Ims said after announcing her Brooke Street shop would close. The horse and clothing store owner says implementation of permit rules for footpath display of goods had cost the business customers. Ms...
THEY’VE beaten me, Inglewood businesswoman Carey Ims said after announcing her Brooke Street shop would close.
The horse and clothing store owner says implementation of permit rules for footpath display of goods had cost the business customers.
Ms Ims has been a critic of Loddon Shire’s requirement that businesses meet guidelines of the federal Disability Discrimination Act 1992 on where goods were displayed.
“It’s only a guideline,” Ms Ims said at the weekend.
She is the second Brooke Street store to announce its closure this month amid criticism of council.
However, nearby Fusspots antique store has since been re-opening on selected weekends to coincide with peaks in visitors to the Loddon for events and celebrations.
Ms Ims said the attitude of council around permits was not supporting the tourism industry.
“The whole system (of permits) is wrong,” she said.
She claimed businesses could erect bollards at no cost but she was required to pay $57 to place an advertising sign on the footpath under “good practice guidelines that are not law”.
Ms Ims claimed she had been threatened with confiscation of goods displayed on the footpath.
And she has also claimed double standards enforcing the permit requirements across Loddon towns.
Ms Ims moved her Horseworld business a block south to the main Brooke Street shopping precinct in 2020. She has written to council and Mallee MP Anne Webster complaining about the permit rules.
Council’s wellbeing director Wendy Gladman said earlier this month: “Council’s position is that items such as A-frame signs and goods for sale should be placed on the kerbside of the footpath, rather than against the building.
“This guideline has been in place for many years and it is intended to provide a continuous accessible path of travel to allow people with a range of abilities to use the footpath without encountering barriers, in accordance with the Disability Discrimination Act 1992. The Act does not provide exemptions based on the size of the town.”
Mrs Gladman said there was no proposal to alter the shire’s guidelines or the permit requirements.
Inglewood Development and Tourism Committee called a meeting for businesses and council officials last year after the shire sent letters to traders about permits.
Council staff told the meeting they wanted consistency and compliance with the Act across all Loddon Shire communities and would work with businesses.
By earlier this month, 38 businesses had applied for permits, including stores in Inglewood.
Most have been approved with some at review stage waiting on the business public liability insurance information.