{"id":258736,"date":"2020-05-29T14:15:24","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T04:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=258736"},"modified":"2020-07-03T15:46:09","modified_gmt":"2020-07-03T05:46:09","slug":"petition-falls-on-deaf-ears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/05\/29\/petition-falls-on-deaf-ears\/","title":{"rendered":"Petition Falls On Deaf Ears"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Target Country … the decision to close the store is “final”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 29, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

A petition organised by South Burnett councillor Kathy Duff to save the Target Country store in Murgon has fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n

The change.org petition<\/a><\/strong> was\u00a0organised after an emergency meeting of the Murgon Business and Development Association on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Within hours of it appearing online the number of signatures had reached more than 1000.<\/p>\n

By 2:15pm on Friday, the number had grown to 2782 and was still rising.<\/p>\n

Signatures were also being gathered on paper petitions around Murgon and Cherbourg – the two communities which will be most hit by the closure.<\/p>\n

Cr Duff\u00a0was hoping that if the petitions garnered 2000 local signatures by June 30, Wesfarmers might relent and convert the Murgon store into a mini Kmart hub rather than closing it.<\/p>\n

The idea attracted a lot of support online – and was widely shared on social media – with commenters emphasising the importance of keeping the store open for local shoppers.<\/p>\n

However, a company spokesperson said the decision to close the store was final.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We informed our team at our Murgon store last Friday and reached out to a number of stakeholders in town, including the Mayor, immediately following this announcement to the team,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“We appreciate that the actions outlined in our recent announcement will have a significant impact on many people, particularly Target team members, customers, and on regional towns where Targets will be closing.<\/p>\n

“The decision to close our Murgon store was not one we made lightly, however we can confirm that this is a final decision.<\/p>\n

“Our focus now is on supporting our 10 team members and securing redeployment opportunities for them.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re committed to doing what we can to support the team through to the store closure next year.”<\/p>\n