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Wednesday 6 November 2019
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Reward in fight against vandals
Stop it: Kings Creek Hotel’s Jet Nye in front of a promotional sign ruined by graffiti vandals. Picture: Gary Sissons
KINGS Creek Hotel Hastings is fighting back against graffiti vandals by offering a $1000 cash reward to find the perpetrators. The hotel’s marketing manager Jet Nye said: “We have recently had a massive surge in graffiti here and are reaching out to the Hastings community to help us identify the vandal who has tagged our property.” Mr Nye said seven or eight graffiti incidents had been carried out possibly by more than one vandal. CCTV had failed to establish their identities. “We are waiting on the police now to identify whether a tip off for the culprit is accurate,” he said. The hotel’s Facebook post calling for public help has reached over 6,500 people. “The community has really gotten around this story as it seems the whole area has been negatively affected by the tagging,” Mr Nye said. “We have already begun to receive some messages regarding a perpetrator’s identity and the hotel is working with Hastings police to identify them and stop them defacing community property.” Mr Nye said management had been putting off installing a large billboard adjacent to the hotel over fears it would be targeted by vandals. The glass front would have to be rock-proof to prevent it being damaged. “It’s us having to work around them which it shouldn’t be,” Mr Nye said. Anyone with information can message the hotel on Facebook or call Hastings police 5970 7800.
Council’s business move ‘curious’ Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au A PENINSULA business group says it hopes Mornington Peninsula Shire Council’s move to become Small Business Friendly will “herald a change in its approach” to small business. The council last week announced it had “officially become a Small Business Friendly Council, committed to giving small businesses in the region more support”.
The council said it was becoming a partner in the Victorian Small Business Commission initiative to “make it a lot easier for small business owners to get started and develop their businesses”. Commissioner Judy O’Connell met with the mayor, Cr David Gill and CEO John Baker at Rosebud to sign the initiative’s charter. However, local businesses are furious with the council for being anything but business-friendly by ramping up food registration fee renewals
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and “lacking clarity in the reasons behind fee hikes”. One café owner at Hastings said small hospitality businesses were “being gouged by the council”. (See “Fast food fee rises hard to swallow” The News 30/10/19). Committee for Mornington Peninsula (C4MP) led by former federal minister for small business Bruce Billson, of Mornington – which had called on the shire to join the business commission – was surprised to learn of its membership “only via social media”.
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This was on the day C4MP hosted a luncheon at Mornington Racing Club to hear from the Victorian Small Business Commissioner about “what such a commitment involves”. C4MP says it represents 40 peninsula businesses. Mr Billson said he welcomed the council’s move to “become business friendly” and that he “looked forward to tangible action to demonstrate commitment to its pledge ‘to make it a lot easier for small business owners to get started and develop their businesses’”.
“Learning about the council’s positive response via social media was a curious way to signal improved support … but it is a step in the right direction,” he said. Mr Billson cited “practical action other councils have taken, such as having concierge services and facilitation support to help small business navigate extensive permit requirements and one-stop-shop application processes” as “examples we hope our shire will follow”. Continued Page 5