NEWS
A meeting of worried McWhirters Centre traders has voted to investigate the possibility of a class action law suit to try to recover their losses from the month-long Walton’s walkway closure.
But the overriding messages from the 10 January meeting of several dozen business owners in the central Valley’s main retail precinct is that the doors have to be reopened ... and ownership of the walkway placed in public hands so it can never ever be closed again to put the livelihoods of local businesses at risk.
Jason Somerville, whose partner bought Rocky’s McWhirters News only weeks before the walkway closure, told the meeting: “We are all the unfortunate collateral damage to a dispute between the owners of the Happy Valley and Walton’s buildings.
“I believe that what has happened to us, even if not intentional, is bloody disgraceful.” He said a class action law suit might help traders recover their loss of earnings, their loss of trade and other gain some compensation for the damage done to those businesses.
Those present agreed to a preliminary investigation as to the costs involved in such a course of action. Traders at the meeting agreed that although reopening the walkway as quickly as possible was paramount, equally important was ensuring that it was never closed again.
Traders said that with elections looming at a state and council level – and no positive outcome in sight – it was time to go political. Mr Somerville called on governments at all levels to “reclaim the walkway as a public place”.
“The government should have the balls to keep it open.”
Local Labor municipal candidate Paul Crowther undertook to approach his party’s state government ministers to seek a commitment to finding a permanent solution to the stalemate.
And new McWhirters trader Robert Hueston of 5 Dogs gourmet sausages offered to set up a facebook page aimed at showing politicians at all levels that the public strongly demanded action on the issue.
