Struggling businesses back voucher scheme

More than $300,000 has been committed by the city council to helping small businesses get back on their feet after the Christmas night storm.

Tens of millions of dollars were put towards recovery by the state and federal governments in the aftermath of the deadly storm, which killed a Helensvale woman and left more than 100,000 people without power for nearly a week.

Gold Coast City Council

CEO Tim Baker said the program was aimed at helping food, beverage and accommodation businesses who fell through the cracks and missed out on other grants.

“This is specifically for those food and beverage, accommodation and retail businesses that have found themselves ineligible for other assistance,” he said.

“We know at least 600 businesses – mostly small businesses – were impacted by either the storm directly or through power outages and stock losses, but we believe the number is higher. Through our recovery efforts we have learnt that many are still struggling to recover, and in many cases have laid off staff.”

The council’s neighbourhood business recharge program will allow people to buy $100 vouchers online from the council at a cost of $50 and then spend it at outlets around the city. The program will launch in late February, with registrations for businesses wanting to be involved opening on Monday.

The move has been welcomed by operators who were forced to close their doors during the normally busy Christmas/New Year period.

Emma Mutkins, owner of the The Hunted Cafe in Bonogin, urged the public to get behind struggling business owners who are still picking up the pieces seven weeks later.

“We welcome the announcement that council is introducing a program to support the recovery of local businesses like ours,” she said.

Many homes and businesses continue to feel the impact of the storms.

Village Roadshow’s Top Golf remains closed with a reopening date yet to be announced as repair work continues.

“Our teams have been working tirelessly since the storms and have assessed the damage and created a timeline for replacing the entire netting and repairing the outfield,” Village Roadshow said in a statement on its website.