Australia Colac to Create Community Service Station
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Monday, 15 December 2008 |
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Colac town southwest of Melbourne is seeking to purchase a
service station and run it as a community owned business outlet.
Tired of seeing petrol prices in nearby Geelong up to 20 cents a
litre cheaper, Colac residents will form a co-operative - similar to
Bendigo Bank's community banking scheme. They plan plan to raise $1
million for the venture. Shareholders would invest in the business and
any profits would flow back as dividends.
They plan to take over an existing service station in the town, buy
fuel direct from the refinery and sell it a cheaper cost to members
only. A membership would cost about $10.
The Colac Community Fuel committee will unveil plans at a public
meeting in January and will begin raising capital. Co-ordinator
is Frank Buchanan and he explained "The disparity in bowser
prices between Geelong and Colac, only an hour away, is often 20 cents
a litre. We can bridge that gap. We would definitely drive the
price down very rapidly."
Mr Buchanan said fuel companies blamed their high prices in the country
on increased transport costs. Mr Buchanan said the scheme would
be a success if the 10,000-strong community bought at its service
station instead of from big players.
PetrolWorld 131208
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