THE opinions of local business owners and residents on declaring a local public holiday to coincide with next year’s Newcastle Regional Show will be sought by Newcastle council.
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At Tuesday night’s meeting, the majority of councillors agreed to set aside $2500 on a ‘‘stakeholder engagement program’’.
A show day public holiday on the Friday of the three-day event has divided the Liberal and Labor/Greens camps in recent years.
Liberal councillor Brad Luke said many businesses would close because they could not afford to pay penalty rates.
Lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said other events could staged in Newcastle on the proposed long weekend, attracting more people to the city.
She said it would only work if Lake Macquarie was successful in gaining a public holiday as well.
Independent councillor Andrea Rufo doubted a public holiday would increase tourism, as other towns across the state would not have a public holiday. Feedback from the community will be passed on to the Minister for Industrial Relations, who will have the last say on the matter.
The minister rejected an application for a public holiday in 2015, only allowing for a local event day.
Cr Nelmes called for the 439 individual submissions and 55 business submissions lodged with the council last December to be included.
Cr Rufo agreed, but only if those submissions were counted once and not be counted again when the consultation period opens again.