If you are an Inverell local travelling around the New England region, chances are someone might comment on the shops in Inverell.
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It is a conversation I have had a number of times.
Where are you from? A person will ask.
Inverell, I say.
It’s a great town, Inverell – they have great shops.
The town’s boutique-style CBD has become a talking point for visitors and Mayor Paul Harmon said that is just the way it should be.
“Council has made no secret of the fact that we have made deliberate decisions to keep our core CBD tight,” he said after Inverell Shire Council’s general meeting on Wednesday, April 26.
“I think what kills a town greater than anything else is once you get a mall development happen."
- Mayor Paul Harmon
“They traditionally happen on the fringes of town, in those industrial areas or a couple of streets back from the main street. They offer attractive rents for shareholders, but you lose some of the business you have through your CBD.
“We don't have that development outside the CBD that detracts from the CBD, and I make no apologies for that.”
Mr Harmon heaped praise on council’s grants officer Fiona Adams after the organisation secured more than $15,500 to run a serious of business skills development workshops in Inverell.
“It was a very successful event and program,” Cr Di Baker said during the meeting.
“It is great to see council supporting our community and we should do it again if funding is available.”
Energise Enterprise events to spruce local business’ online presence were held throughout April.
“It has been very successful. Four very successful programs and we are certainly looking at what other programs we can look at to run,” Mr Harmon said.
“(Grants) came from grant funding out of state government's small grants for business programs.
“That will be the same fund that we will be looking to access again to run more programs.”
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
