Posted
Newcastle Council is holding-off on calls to declare a public holiday for next year's Newcastle show to see whether it can become an educational event for school students.
Last night's council meeting heard the decision to declare a 'local event day' rather than a public holiday this year saw a drop of almost 55 per cent in patronage on the day with the loss of $100,000 in takings.
It was decided to again ask for it to be declared a 'local event day'.
Labor Councillor Nuatali Nelmes pointed out that thousands of school students would be unable to attend.
She successfully moved that the issue lay on the table to see if the Education Department would support making it an 'excursion day' for students.
"It's probably only a small hope that we can still have a show day in Newcastle," she said.
"It is such an important day for families."
Lord Mayor Jeff McCloy says calling for the declaration of a public holiday would be a betrayal of businesses in the city.
It means the issue will come back to council for another vote, but Councillor McCloy says the majority of councillors can see how detrimental it is to businesses.
"I mean the penalty to business at double time and a half, no wonder all the businesses close," he said.
"Unfortunately many of the Councillors haven't been in business so they don't understand when they have to find that wage cheque.
"I would love the show to be more successful, but we've got to help the show with the schools.
"So a positive will come out of it."
But Labor Councillor Nuatali Nelmes says not having the public holiday this year saw a huge drop in patronage because many families were unable to attend.
"And I think it breaks a really long tradition," she said.
"There's a lot of events on in Newcastle that weekend and it does provide families and everyone's working longer and harder these day.
"So it's time to spend quality time together whether it's at the show or other events."
Topics: local-government, newcastle-2300
No comments:
Post a Comment