The City of Busselton council will review whether they support changing retail trading hours in the region’s shopping precincts to all be the same as Dunsborough.
After a request was made by the Coles Vasse store for extended retail hours, city officers found that a variation issued in 2015 to extend trading hours was only applicable to Busselton’s town centre.
City officers have now recommended council review general retail trading hours within the region to make all shopping precincts the same.
This would mean retailers could open from 8am to 9pm from Monday to Sunday including all public holidays.
Unlike Busselton, some retailers in Dunsborough can operate all year round including Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day.
Officers stated that having the same retail trading hours would help activate the town centres, attract more people and offer tourists a better experience.
They also said more flexible trading hours across the city was essential if the region was going to develop as a tourist destination.
The other option city officers suggested was to maintain Dunsborough’s retail trading hours and only extend the Busselton trading hours to include the remainder of the city such as Vasse and other shopping precincts.
This would mean there would be some differences between the trading hours in Busselton and Dunsborough but would provide consistency on weekdays and weekend trading.
Under this option, Busselton stores would be required to close on Good Friday and Christmas Day, but could open from 1am on Anzac Day.
If council supports the changes, city officers would conduct community consultation before a request was made to the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety to authorise.
Councillors will be asked to vote at Wednesday’s meeting.
Have your say: Would you like to see retailers open all year round? Why or why not? Email editorial.bdmail@fairfaxmedia.com.au.