Fremantle Markets - May be time for a tax audit?

A couple of interesting pieces from the Catalyse Survey, Council commissioned in the months before the lease was signed. Notice on the Intro page the Murdoch’s were uncooperative, not just to the survey company but also the Council, about releasing stallholders details - no surprises there.

The "suggestions" on page 2 reads like a Council list of "What should we ignore".

Introduction and research method

Under the terms of the Local Government Act 1995, should a Council be proposing to dispose a property with a transaction value over $1,000,000 then the sale is classified as a “Major Land Transaction”. Before entering into a Major Land Transaction the Council must first prepare a Business Plan, advertise the availability of the Business Plan for comment and then consider any submissions received in relation to the proposed transaction.
In September 2007 the City of Fremantle released an updated Business Plan for public comment.

In February 2008 CATALYSE was commissioned to conduct an independent research study among stallholders to determine levels of awareness and support for the Business Plan.

The study was designed by CATALYSE and administered by the ECU Survey Research Centre using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CAT)
On request from the Market Managers, all interviewing was conducted between Monday 18February and Wednesday 20 February, 2008.

Stallholders’ details were sourced at (broken link) www.fremantlemarkets.com.au/whattosee.asp

- Additional contact information was supplied from the Fremantle Markets’ Stallholders Association, and from current and past Stallholders.
-While the City of Fremantle requested an up-to-date list of Stallholders from the current Market Managers, and also sought permission from the Market Managers to conduct an audit of stallholders to update contact details, both requests were refused. (WHY?)

111 stallholders completed a survey (from 146 contacts in the database.
- 21 contacts were unobtainable during the study period (incorrect details / called more than 10 times with no contact / etc)
- 14 stallholders were unable to participate (too ill) or refused.
- Of those who completed the survey, 86 were permanent and 25 were casual stallholders.

Survey data as received by CATALYSE and analysed using SPSS. To protect the privacy of individual participants, we only presented anonymous and aggregated responses in this report, individual survey responses are not released to the City of Fremantle, nor any other parties.

Strategic Insights

-Given that the new Business Plan affects all stallholders in Fremantle Markets, it is concerning that 1 in 5 stallholders surveyed have not read or heard others talking about the new plan
-When changes in the new Business Plan were tested among all respondents, the study revealed that there is majority support for the five year leases and for disputes to be handles through the State Administrative Tribunal.
-While most stallholders (68%) would like the City of Fremantle representatives to be included in the Work Group, a large minority (23%) oppose the involvement of the City of Fremantle in this group.
-Just over half the stallholders rated the performance of the current Market Managers as quite good or very good.
-Among those who have read or heard others talking about the Business Plan, many (64%) would be happy for the City of Fremantle to enter into a new lease with the current Market Managers.
- However, it should be noted that a large minority, 1 in 4 stallholders (27%) are NOT happy for the City of Fremantle to enter into a new lease with the current Market Managers.
-Furthermore, 24% of stallholders who participated in the study rated the performance of the current Market Managers as quite poor or very poor: 18% said performance was only ‘just acceptable’.

To address stallholders concern, consider the following suggestions:

-Consult the Fremantle Markets Stallholders association about the new Business Plan
-Include the Market Managers and representatives from both the City of Fremantle and the Fremantle Markets stallholders Association in the Working Group
- Agree on rules / guidelines for 1) setting and managing rent increases 2) tenure (including the location / relocation of sites) and 3) selling / purchasing stalls
-Consult stallholders about changing / extending trading hours for Fremantle Markets
- Improve the way the markets are managed (including greater transparency and fairness with decision –making, improved professionalism and better communication with stallholders)

My take:
None of the above concerns or suggestions have been taken seriously or implemented.

Why, with all the accountancy background of the Murdoch’s, would there be no complete or accurate database of stallholder contact details? Why has council not insisted that there should be one? Perhaps the ATO should do a thorough investigation on the record keeping at Freo markets; what other vital statistics are missing?

In light of the support in this study, might I refer you back to the letter sent out to stallholders by the Murdoch’s, asking for backing and making promises that persuaded stallholders to back them. You will clearly see why the stallholders and council now feel so betrayed. http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com/2009/12/trust-me-would-i-lie-to-you.html
Or, how about repeating the study Now.



For the latest post:http://sonyagreen.blogspot.com