There appears to have been a growing number of instances where job cuts and factory closures are impacting on Stawell's growth and now it's high time something was done to curb this disturbing trend.

In the past 12 months we have heard of cuts at AUNDE Australia, the closure of the Steelchief outlet at Stawell, pending closure of the DPI office in Stawell and now the closing down of what was once a thriving industry for Stawell - Motorway.

Staff cuts and closures of any magnitude hurt a country community, but it seems Stawell has been on the receiving end far too many times.

A lot of work has gone into securing the McDonald's Family Restaurant development for Stawell, there is the new Powerhouse Alliance development that is set to take things forward and the development at the new health hub in Patrick Street is progressing well.

It is true that the McDonald's development will create employment for teenagers in the town.

However, there must be fears that those teenagers won't be around to fill the vacancies, if their parents are forced to move away when industries they have worked in for 20 years or more, simply close their doors.

The impact of the Motorway closure was definitely made worse by the way the owners went about delivering the news to the workers. Delivering was the appropriate word, as many had been sent on holidays, only to find a notice in their letterbox stating there was no job to return to.

It would be easy for the workers to be bitter at the Motorway name after the closure, but the truth lies in the fact that it was the company's owners who took the drastic step of putting the 34 workers out of a job.