Collie will have its trading hours adjusted after a decision made last week by the Shire.
A motion was passed to amend the trading hours that will mean shops will be allowed to trade until 8pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
Councillors discussed at length both the pros and cons of changing the current closing time of 9pm, before the majority voted in favour of the 8pm closing time.
Shops will still be allowed to trade until 9pm on a Thursday and 6pm on a Saturday.
A petition that was bought before council in July 2014 that sought a review of the extended trading hours and contained 1000 signatures from locals.
The petition was used in the discussions as it represented a significant amount of people who stated that they were not in favour of extended trading hours as they were having a detrimental impact on small businesses.
A letter provided to the Shire from Cole’s supermarket stated they were in favour of the extended trading hours and that it gave customers a greater choice, and provided increased job opportunities.
Shire of Collie Executive Manager of Development Services Keith Williams said in the meeting that it was about fining a balance that suited the majority of the community.
“We are trying to find a balance and that makes it challenging, the main thing that strikes a chord is that there were 1000 signatures on that petition, which is significant,” he said.
Councillor Gary Faries stated in regard to the petition that there was ‘no indication from the people who didn’t sign the petition and were happy with the 9pm closing time.’
“It’s taking away something from the community that the community wants, “he said.
Councillor John Borlini spoke in opposition to the amendment.
“We have the problem down the hill that we have 24 hour trading to compete with,” he said.
Councillor Sarah Stanley also spoke in opposition to the amendment.
“Our biggest issue in Collie is the competition with other towns, extended trading hours are important and it won’t help our town overall if we amend these,” she said.
“It provides convenience for everyone, not just shift workers.”
A survey costing $9000, which was conducted by the Shire, found that 39 per cent of the community were in favour of a 7pm closing time, in comparison to 20 per cent who favoured 8pm, and 38 per cent wanted a 9pm closing time.
A survey conducted by the Collie Chamber of Commerce and Industry of its members showed around 80 per cent were in support of a closing time of 7pm.
Collie Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO Richard Jackson said he supported the change.
“I believe it’s a reasonable compromise,” he said.
“I hope it improves things for the deli owners because they have been most affected by the changes to trading hours.”
Steere Street Deli owner Darcy Buckle who was hoping the councillors would vote on a 7pm closing time said the compromise from 9pm to 8pm will help but it will still affect the business.
“I thought 7pm was a fair compromise, we weren’t asking for changes to trading on Saturday or Sunday, we were hoping on an agreed time of 7pm in order to help the small businesses and delis,” he said.
“I honestly believe this is bad for Collie, It helps Coles and Woolies, they are doing ok but it’s the small businesses that will suffer.”
“There has been comment around town from businesses in Collie that this is the worst it has been in 30 years.”
Mr Buckle said big businesses such as Woolworths and Coles would not suffer due to the changes but they would impact small business.
“If you doubled the profits of Coles and Woolies it would not benefit Collie, but if you doubled the profits of small businesses it would benefit the town,” he said.
“We are currently looking at changing the structure of our business and employing less staff because we are being forced too.”