Thanks to a change of rating by the Geelong Council, bed and breakfast accommodation on the Bellarine Peninsula will now be scarce. The Council has decided to change the rating on properties from residential to mixed use.
As a consequence, many b&b places are shutting their doors.
The Bellarine Times last week and this week has reported that many venues simply can't afford the rate increase and the amount of income earned did not warrant the effort to cover the rate rise.
Views End in Scotchman's Road is one bed & breakfast place affected. They were advised by Council when they opened that they would not have to register as a commercial enterprise. Seems like the times are a changing.
You can read more in this week's Bellarine times article on page 3 entitled: Local B&B's facing closure.
This change of rating has to be seen in the context of the Council's mania for 'Special Charges' such as that being imposed on Drysdale residents for footpaths (see your story below). Why this relentless chase after rates revenue? Could it be that the Council fears that its forthcoming much heralded bike race will go the way of that other much-subsidised race the Grand Prix, which last year lost $5million?
ReplyDeleteThe change of rates for B&Bs also flies in the face of the Council's only strategy to promote jobs and economic growth on the Bellarine, i.e. tourism. So while the tourism authorities work hard to attract people to the Peninsula, the Council works hard to ensure that they have nowhere to stay when they arrive.