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Business and community support provides relief and stimulates recovery

Last modified on 04 August 2021

Willoughby City Council has endorsed a third assistance package in response to the impacts of the COVID-19 emergency on small businesses and the community. These specific savings to businesses and the community will amount to approximately $168,000 per month.

Approved at the Council meeting on Monday night (2 August), the Business and Community Support Plan 3 reintroduces waivers and concessions for fees for sporting organisations, footway dining, street advertising, and non-critical health inspections and fire safety measures.

Council will also waive fees for car share parking and will relax the collection of some penalties where it does not pose a risk to health or safety.

The plan also focuses on supporting businesses and the community to access the grants and support packages already available from the NSW Government and Council, providing training and encouraging the community to support local businesses to revitalise the local economy during and post lockdown. Initiatives include:

Promoting the NSW Government and Federal Assistance business support packages
Supporting and promoting existing community initiatives.
Introducing a Business Training Support providing free business coaching and mentoring sessions to assist businesses through the current lockdown and the post lockdown recovery period
Promoting the ‘Grants for the Community Program’ as COVID relief for businesses and the community.
Funding for the ‘Support Local’ marketing campaign
Planning a series of post lockdown events and activations to safely stimulate vibrancy and reactivation of the CBD area.

Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney said that in approving the latest measures, Council has taken a civic leadership role.

“We recognise the deep and long term impacts of COVID-19 on local small businesses and the flow-on effects to our community,” Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney said.

“Our first relief and recovery packages stood our business community and residents in good stead to overcome the impacts of the COVID related restrictions in 2020. Our latest plan seeks to further lessen the burden of COVID-19 in the short term and to pave the path for economic recovery by mobilising people to support local businesses and communities.”

Find out more details of what’s included in the business and community support package here.