About 70 business representatives attended a forum in Launceston on Wednesday night to raise their concerns about the central business district. Parking and anti-social behaviour were two key topics discussed. 

Alderman van Zetten said the council was open to revisiting its free parking policy, but would do so after the upcoming election. It will consider whether to offer free parking for 60 or 90 minutes in multistorey car parks. 

Chamber of Commerce chief executive Neil Grose said it should be the only leaf the city takes out of Hobart’s book. 

A Launceston pharmacy owner said he had been in the city of about 30 years and had definitely seen a downturn in foot traffic recently. 

Another business owner said the city had lost its sense of community. 

The chamber organised the forum as a follow on from its original event about six weeks ago. 

Chamber president Tim Holder said Launceston was one of the greatest regional cities in the world and the community needs to work together to continue to improve it. 

Mr Grose said it’s pointless to just talk about the city’s issues. 

“What are we going to do about it? We need a group of people to help us. There is no point talking about it if we’re not going to do it,” he said. 

Mr Grose said the strong turn out was testament that Launceston business owners still cared about their city. 

“If you didn’t there wouldn’t be anyone here,” he said. 

A number of business owners voiced their concerns about Cityprom, with a number of them holding the belief that the organisation does not do enough for the city. 

The chamber will continue to present the council with the business owner’s concerns.