MANY Scone business people are concerned about the Roads and Maritime Service (RMS) current design for the bypass and overpass.
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Forty people attended a meeting about the bypass plans last Thursday night, organised by Upper Hunter Shire Council and the Scone Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Upper Hunter Shire mayor Wayne Bedggood encouraged people to make their views known to RMS by the deadline of February 19.
Council and the Chamber are in agreement that the bypass presents both challenges and opportunities, that the current RMS design needed better access to and from Scone, and that research was needed on the likely impact on local businesses.
“The new bypass plans from RMS leave much to be desired and I think that, by the end of council’s excellent presentation, all of those present agreed,” Chamber president Ben Wyndham said.
Concerns were also raised at the meeting about how much businesses relied on passing trade and how much the bypass would impact them.
Council and the Chamber are going to work with local businesses to gather data on the importance of passing trade.
Select businesses will be asked to monitor and measure turnover over several weeks to gauge the relative importance of passing trade.
At Thursday night’s meeting some Scone business owners stated that passing trade made up 50 per cent to 80 per cent of their business at certain times of the year