Notes from the Community
Welcome to the Newtown Enmore Business Chamber’s latest update. As part of our ongoing commitment to advocacy and transparent governance, we have compiled the feedback gathered from the recent post-it note activity during our launch event.
This input reflects the concerns and suggestions from our members, and we are dedicated to addressing these as we move forward. Our focus includes maintaining affordable rents for local businesses, promoting diversity and inclusion, and ensuring new developments align with community values. We are committed to fostering a thriving environment where independent retailers and creative spaces can continue to prosper.
Affordable Rent: Support to keep rent reasonable for locals and independent retailers to prevent displacement.
Diversity and Equity: Focus on diversity by considering the needs and experiences of First Nations people, CaLD communities, and LGBTQI individuals.
Support for Local Organisations: Advocate for the City of Sydney and Inner West Council to offer reduced rents on their properties to local organisations and charities instead of big businesses.
Late Night Precinct: Push for the late-night precinct concept to become a reality, not just a buzzword, and ensure Councils follow through.
Governance: Promote ethical, structured governance with a transparent decision-making framework. Ensure attention to important issues.
Member Communication: Provide a regularly updated contact sheet for members to effectively engage with action, council, and leadership. Clarify next steps, including meeting invitations and how contributions are shared with the executive.
Problem-Solving Focus: Address problems clearly, acknowledging what can and cannot be controlled.
Community Connection: Foster genuine connections with the local resident community.
Government Structure: Consider removing state government involvement and reallocating those funds to boost local government, maintaining only federal and local governance.
Preservation of Creative Spaces: Prevent the demolition of old buildings that house creative spaces and ensure new buildings include lower levels designated for creative uses, such as book clubs and workshops, rather than just cafes.
Staffing Subsidies: Subsidise staffing costs to help businesses incentivize local employment in line with the cost of living.
Local Events: Foster relationships between small businesses and licensed venues to encourage organic local events.
Funding and Grants: Address the lack of support for small businesses with turnover under $100-500K and 1-3 employees, as they are often overlooked in funding categories.
Dog-Friendly Initiatives: Push for dog-friendly initiatives across local venues.
Tendering System Overhaul: Revise the tendering system to improve its effectiveness.
Marketing to New Demographics: Market small businesses to new demographics in the gentrifying Newtown area.
Pricing and Ethics: Ensure that prices are not exclusionary and consider collective efforts among hospitality businesses to provide affordable options. Promote active measurement of such efforts.
Community Safety: Advocate for businesses to uphold ethics and safety, particularly in relation to community responses to controversial demonstrations.
In closing, we are excited to turn the valuable feedback from our recent post-it note activity into actionable steps. We encourage you to stay involved and provide further feedback as we work together to create a dynamic and equitable Newtown Enmore.