The Hidden Cost of Living in Hervey Bay
We all know that the greater the distance we live from a capital city the more we are going to have to pay for the things we buy. But did you ever consider that there is a hidden cost for ordinary people who want to live in towns that are becoming tourist meccas?
You only have to talk to the local small business people in places like the Eli Waters shopping centre to see that there is a hidden cost for residents and it’s starting to bite.
You see, as Hervey Bay becomes a tourist attraction more and more developers and investors are coming to town to cash in on those tourist dollars. To to that they’re not only buying up land along the Esplanade, they are also buying up shops and complexes such the ones at Eli Waters and down at Urangan.
As they buy up those complexes they are increasing the rent that the individual shops have to pay. At Eli Waters the rent per square metre is going up to over $600 a square metre per month.
Those are prices that the small businesses that cater for ordinary residents simply cannot afford and so they either go out of business because there are very few places in Hervey Bay they can afford to move to or pass on the increases to their customers.
So we pay more for the privilege of living in a tourist hot spot.
