Myall Coast Chamber of Commerce met for dinner on Tuesday 21 July to be briefed on the latest Small Business Friendly Councils concept.

The first order of business was to present a cheque for  Eight Hundred Dollars to the Clinic Bus to assist in ongoing costs, with the money being raised from a Trivia night held by the Chamber.

Vice President Mark McCormick made the official presentation to Anne and Geoff Fowler who are volunteer organisers of the service.

Anne said, “We accept this generous donation gladly on behalf of The Clinic Bus Inc, The Clinic Bus provides free transport to residents of the area for medical appointments and receives no assistance from Government, relying solely on fundraising and the generosity of the community to keep operating.”

“We thank the Chamber of Commerce for their hard work and all monies raised go to funding a service that is an asset to our community.”

Guest speakers on the night were Lisa Schiff from Great Lakes Council and Duncan Burke from the Hunter and NSW Business Chamber.

A strong contingent from Bulahdelah was on hand to listen with President John Sahyoun also attending and thanking local members for the invitation.

Small Business Friendly Councils is an initiative which was launched in 2014 by the Minister for Local Government, the Hon. Paul Toole MP, with aims of streamlining communication and assisting in the processes between small business and their regulatory bodies generally Local Councils.

Duncan Burke spoke of a need for empathy from regulators and recognition of the monetary input and the high levels of employment provided by small business.

“I see a requirement for Council to have persons trained to deal with business operators to assist in cutting through the ‘red tape’ and getting information made quickly and easily available to them,” he said.

Lisa Schiff acknowledged the needs of local business but added, “We have set a date of April 2016 to have relevant policy embedded in Council.”

Graham Halley, President of the local Chamber thanked all for their attendance and noted this as a first step in moving towards more open and clear consultation between Council and local businesses that often get frustrated by the lengthy timeframes in any communications with Council.