Chamber of Commerce accused of ‘ransom’ over Mary St festivals

Accusations of ‘ransom demands’ have been levelled against the Gympie Chamber of Commerce, as part of a lengthy discussion about the future of Mary Street’s annual festivals.

Accusations of ‘ransom demands’ have been levelled against the Gympie Chamber of Commerce, as part of a lengthy discussion about the future of Mary Street’s annual festivals.

It comes after a mystery business owner applied to Gympie Regional Council for a grant to hold a second Mary Street Christmas festival on December 21, 2022.

Fate of annual Gympie festival hangs in the balance

Historically, the Gympie CBD has played host to two Christmas festivals a year, along with an Easter party and winter celebration.

Despite this, the Chamber of Commerce only applied for grants to host one Christmas event, plus next year’s Easter and winter events.

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Upon hearing of the request for a second event and being asked to provide a letter of “no objection”, the Chamber agreed.

This was on one key condition – that the Chamber of Commerce cease all event organisation moving forward, leaving the street festivals in the hands of the council.

Before the Wednesday morning council meeting, Gympie Chamber of Commerce president Petra Van Beek said the move was not a malicious one.

“We are not a festival organisation,” Ms Van Beek said.

“The Chamber board are all volunteers … it takes a lot of effort to run them.

“We appreciate that they add value to the community and we certainly want to see them keep going, but we don’t believe we’re the right vehicle to be running them.”

The Gympie Regional Council Ordinary Meeting on Wednesday 23 November, 2022 at Tin Can Bay Country Club.

After a nearly hour-long discussion, the councillors eventually decided to approve the second festival, thus accepting the condition of the Chamber.

Councillors Dan Stewart, Hilary Smerdon, Dolly Jensen, Bruce Devereaux and Mayor Glen Hartwig were in support of the motion.

In opposition were councillors Shane Waldock, Jess Milne, Warren Polley and Bob Fredman.

Division 8 Councillor Bob Fredman.

Mr Fredman in particular had some choice words about the negotiations between council and the Chamber, noting what he described as a black “undercurrent” to the correspondence.

“This motion basically, in my opinion, reads like a ransom demand,” he said.

“That might be extreme words, but that’s the way it comes across to me.”

This argument was supported by Division one councillor Jess Milne.

There was no resolution regarding the future of the Mary Street festivals, but suggestions were made by Mr Stewart and Mr Hartwig to open expressions of interest to the local community.

The Chamber of Commerce has been approached for comment.