Although fears are growing that job losses at the Summit Wool Spinners textile plant in Oamaru could mean higher rates bills for residents if employees leave town to find work, business owners still see the town as a good place to be.
Waitaki Ratepayers' Association president Warren Crawford said rates and the local property market could both be affected detrimentally if large numbers were made redundant and forced to seek jobs outside the district.
''On behalf of the ratepayers, I believe it is a huge blow for Oamaru. There are a lot of people employed out there and most of those will own their own houses and be ratepayers.
''It's going to be disastrous for the businesses that are left in Oamaru.
''The whole of Oamaru will be worse off. It's a huge employer ... the second biggest ... in Oamaru. He was concerned, because ''the fewer ratepayers in this town the higher your rates will be''.
Mr Crawford said major redundancies could also curtail a buoyant housing market in the town, due to fewer available jobs.
However, a new $3.5 million business park, which is being developed, would not be affected by the happenings at the plant.
Real estate agent Tony Spivey sen said Oamaru was still a viable place to do business and other companies still wanted to set up shop in the town.
Mr Spivey said he had already fielded one call yesterday from a businesses interested in establishing a presence at the North Oamaru Business Park.
''You have a good steady workforce [in Oamaru]. Some of those employees at Summit Wool Spinners have been there 20 years, 30 years, and that's one of the beauties of establishing business in a place like Oamaru. You get a stable workforce. You don't get the transient workforce that you get in the major cities.''
