HORSHAM business are more confident in the city's economy after two years of drought.
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The survey, by Business Horsham and Watts Price Accountants, asks businesses their thoughts on the future
More than 70 per cent of respondents believed region’s economic conditions would improve in the next six months compared with just 11.8 per cent who thought conditions would deteriorate.
The survey is done every six months.
Business Horsham member Brian Watts said the previous survey in July saw a vast improvement on the previous few reports.
“We surmised this was due to a good seasonal rainfall, which most sectors expected would increase farmer spending and flow through to the rest of the community,” he said.
“In this survey, there has been further growth in confidence.
“This is the second survey where optimists have outweighed pessimists following a lengthy period of drought.”
Mr Watts said the most confident industry groups included finance, manufacturing, professional and public.
“These groups were 100 per cent confident that conditions would improve,” he said.
The survey showed 42.9 per cent of people thought conditions were better than they were this time last year.
The most confident group was businesses with five to 20 employees, where 85 per cent believed conditions would improve over the next six months.
Mr Watts said each survey asked respondents about a few questions about specific aspects of the city.
“The special questions in this survey related to improving the appeal of the highway entrances and the quality of Horsham’s sporting grounds,” he said.
He said one question asked people if the agreed that improving the appeal of the highway entrances to Horsham would result in more visitors and potentially increased visitor spending.
“To this question 60 per cent of respondents believed the council should make improvement of the highway entrances a priority,” he said.
Mr Watts said most respondents were reasonably satisfied with the quality of the city’s sporting grounds.
He said many people thought the Horsham Showground and Maydale Pavilion precinct needed to be upgraded.
“However many respondents wanted to see more development of the river as a recreational or dining area with improved access,” he said.