Shire of Denmark cracks down on unregistered holiday accommodation providers

The Shire of Denmark is cracking down on unregistered accommodation providers flying under the radar to “level the playing field” for businesses in the sector.

Unregistered commercial holiday home and holiday accommodation providers will receive a letter from the Shire in the coming weeks advising them of legislative requirements.

Those who chose not to complete the registration process could face penalties, the Shire said.

Shire of Denmark chief executive David Schober said the crackdown was needed to provide safeguards for customers and fairness for all accommodation businesses.

“Many business owners and concerned residents have appealed to council on this issue,” he said.

“Our community has been asking council to do what it can to ensure all accommodation providers in our Shire operate on a level playing field.

“Many accommodation providers have provided feedback that they are registered and doing the right thing, while their competition is operating without approvals.

“This places visitors at risk by not having the appropriate health and safety oversight and also exposes accommodation providers to enormous risks in the event of accidents.”

The Shire will continue to do regular “sweeps” to identify additional unregistered accommodation providers.

Denmark Chamber of Commerce chief Summer Addy said the crackdown on unregistered accommodation providers was “positive” for the community.

“Its a positive thing and we really appreciate the Shire using their resources in order to find people that are going under the radar,” she said.

“Especially out of fairness and making sure that everyone is doing the right thing.”

The DCC has taken on the responsibility of managing visitor services at the Kwoorabup Visitor Centre where they oversee an accommodation booking system.

“We are encouraging people to be on that booking platform which helps to bring more revenue into our community instead of seeing it go to other places,” Ms Addy said.

“Those sorts of things are really important to keep our economy thriving — especially when you have an accommodation businesses and you’re paying rates you’re helping to bring in money for a thriving economy and supporting Denmark instead of just supporting yourself.

“It’s definitely important that people do the right thing and register and pay the proper amount of taxes which then sees that money into our visitor centre, into tourism and into keeping our town clean and our roads safe.”