Council should stimulate local economy, says Chamber

Latest figures showing a sluggish Central Coast economy mean that Gosford Council should be stimulating the local economy, according to Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.

It should be engaging more with local business leaders and retailers in an effort to support and fund local campaigns, said chamber president Mr Matthew Wales.

"The Chamber is actively pursuing the Peninsula Master Planning Committee proposal which we presented to Council as one way of engaging with the business community so that we can source and fund projects that will benefit our local centres," said Mr Wales.

"The Central Coast Economic Indicators released by the Central Coast Research Foundation show that expectations for consumer spending over the next three months remain weak and an obstacle to improvement in local economic conditions.

"It is in everyone's interests to work collaboratively to find ways of improving local business conditions.

'With hundreds of local high school students entering the workforce in the next four months, it has never been more important than now to create local jobs.

"None of us want our children to commute to Sydney if we can improve local business conditions such that new jobs can be created," said Mr Wales.

"The recently released data confirms the anecdotal evidence from Peninsula main street retailers that sales are flat, jobs are still in short supply and that participation rates are well below the state and national averages.

"The Central Coast has a worrying unemployment rate of 6.3 per cent and a declining participation rate of 52.9 per cent.

"These are not good figures and can be partly explained by the local economy's high dependence on consumer spending, weak consumer sentiment and the soaring Australian dollar," he said.

"These impacts hit Peninsula businesses particularly hard as they are so consumer orientated.

"More and more locals are saving their dollars and deciding to shy away from spending in local centres," said Mr Wales.

Media Release, 13 May 2011 Matthew Wales, Peninsula Chamber of Commerce