Councillors reticent on Sunday trading

City of Albany councillors remain tight-lipped on whether they support the deregulation of Sunday trading in the city.

TheAlbany Advertiser canvassed the City’s councillors for their opinions on deregulating trading, with only five willing to give an opinion on the divisive issue.

Of the 12 councillors, one could not be contacted, while Mayor Dennis Wellington chose not to comment as he has a stake in a local business.

Of those willing to talk, Councillor Ray Hammond said his opinion had changed since the trial holiday period.

“Until recently, I was largely ambivalent, but after listening to people’s positive experiences during the holiday period, it appeared to revitalise the town,” he said. “I look forward to further discussions.” .

Cr Janelle Price said people did not need more time for shopping.

“I don’t think we need that much time to shop, we shop too much already,” she said.

Cr Nicolette Mulcahy said national and multinational companies would be the main beneficiaries if Sunday trading was deregulated.

“I’m a supporter of seven-day trading, but the majority can already open and choose not to for a variety of reasons, so the multinationals will benefit most from deregulation,” she said.

Farmers coming from out of town would enjoy the extra flexibility, according to Cr Alison Goode.

“The situation is the big businesses can’t trade at the moment,” she said.

“I wouldn’t make much use of it, but I know farmers up the line would appreciate it; the larger organisations should be given the opportunity to open.”

Cr Robert Sutton said deregulation would hinder small business.

“It will have detrimental effects on small business and producers, the only ones to benefit from it will be Coles and Woolworths,” he said.

City of Albany chief executive Andrew Sharpe outlined the City’s stance on the issue.

“The City of Albany conducted community surveys in 2009 and 2012 on deregulated trading hours,” he said.

“These surveys found the majority of the community did not support deregulated trading and, as a result, council respected the wishes of its community.”

The City is reviewing its temporary short-term trading policy, which focuses on alterations to trading hours during peak visitor periods.