Sunday 10 August 2014

Traders Meet With Councillors

On Wednesday of this week, QVMAC Representatives met with Councillors Catherine Oke and Stephen Mayne along with CoM management representatives, Rob Adams and Mark Stoermer.
QVMAC Representatives were joined by trader Jeff Wozniak and customer Mary-Lou Howie as we discussed the participation and engagement process leading to renewal. 

An important stage in the process takes place next Tuesday when Council considers a proposal to endorse the Capire Reports 1 and 2, refer the main ingredients of those reports to State Government, and incorporate them in the draft Master Plan which is scheduled for release in November.

Traders have expressed concern about the engagement and participation process, particularly the suggestion that some components have been pre-determined and the suggestion that the level of involvement for traders hasn't been sufficiently robust. We have written before on this website about how participation can take many forms ranging from traders being told what is going to happen to traders deciding what is going to happen. In between those two extremes is a comfort zone for both parties and traders believe we have yet to reach that comfort zone.

QVMAC Representatives are preparing submissions to council for presentation next Tuesday and we hope to give you more details over the next couple of days.

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