CBD Ratepayers getting RIPPED OFF

Shop owners  and land owners claim they are being discriminated against after a new study found property rates in the Nowra CBD are up to four times higher than retailing sites at South Nowra.

The study has been done by the Nowra Commercial Ratepayers Association, and has also found rates paid for the Stockland centre on the Princes Highway are also much lower than the CBD.

Investigations found the rate paid for a single old house used for business purposes in Bridge Road, is the same as that for a full retail complex at South Nowra. The association says the problem lies with glaring discrepancies assigned to land values in the CBD and South Nowra.

Association spokesman Scott Baxter says the CBD does not mind competing with South Nowra, but finds it increasingly difficult when the playing field is not level