Bathurst Regional Council in the NSW Central Tablelands is considering reverting to a printed version of its Autumn Colours events directory after the first online-only publication was shunned by residents.
“People don’t like it on the internet,” councilor Monica Morse told a council meeting, according to a report in the Western Advocate. “It is very fine for the people in Sydney but we have to look after our community and more and more of our community are the older people who go to these functions.
“We are ignoring a huge part of our demographic. We are supposed to be aware of the aging population but we seem to be putting more things on the internet when the older people can’t get at it, can’t read it, can’t understand it, don’t have the internet on."
When the Western Advocate polled readers earlier this year, 83 per cent preferred a physical booklet.
Cr Ian North says feedback on this year’s online program has been largely negative. “A lot of elderly people in the community enjoy the booklet. They can put it on their calendar looking ahead and book out what they want to do.”
Autumn Colours is a three-month community events program that runs from March until the end of May each year.