City of Greater Bendigo councillor Lisa Ruffell is seeking support from her colleagues to move a motion at her final council meeting next month to immediately cease all funding to the BBC.

Cr Ruffell said a recent member survey the business council conducted and chief executive officer Leah Sertori’s subsequent comments were not representative of businesses in the city.

“I want to move a motion to stop all money to them,” she said.

“That’s how cross I am about her comments and I really feel that the board of the Bendigo Business Council really needs to address this, this isn't helping anything.”

The results of the BBC survey were released to the Bendigo Advertiser at the weekend, and many of the responses were highly critical of the current council.

“It’s fair to say that our members have been underwhelmed by the performance of the current council as a whole and at times particularly frustrated by the dysfunctional dynamic between councillors,” Ms Sertori said at the time.

One response called for an end to “kindergarten-style debates and name calling”.

Cr Ruffell, herself a business owner, said the 620 members claimed by the BBC represented only a fraction of Bendigo traders, with retailers in particular underrepresented.

“I question her members, where are her small business retailers? There are 650 just in the [central business district] alone,” she said.

“Give me a number of how many retailers there are in her paid-up members, I’d love to know because everyone I’ve spoken to, especially in the CBD, retailers, small businesses, they’re not members.”​

Ms Sertori was contacted for comment on Tuesday but declined.

Cr Ruffell also hit out at suggestions councillors should be required to have business qualifications, saying many of the current crop were highly qualified and experienced in business.

“You’ve got me who’s a business owner, you’ve got Mark Weragoda who’s a business owner, you’ve got Barry Lyons who’s a developer and you’ve got Elise Chapman who was a business owner,” she said.

As it stands, the BBC will receive $22,000 in sponsorship from the council this financial year, and a further $250,000 over four years to fund the Bendigo Inventor Awards.

Fellow councillor Helen Leach also questioned the value of the BBC’s ratepayer subsidy, saying she too was angered by Ms Sertori’s comments which she described as “cheeky”.

Cr Leach cited lobbying around Lake Eppalock and the AFL grand final public holiday as examples of the council’s support for business.

“I went to a lot of meetings with ministers for water and Goulburn Murray Water, you name it I was there, and I was in there fighting for small business, big business, any business that required the lake to be at a reasonable level for tourism,” she said.

“I was out there trying to advocate that the council write to the Premier and say this holiday before grand final day was a mistake, it’s costing all businesses too much money.”

Cr Ruffell will canvass support for the move to cut the BBC’s funding at Wednesday night’s regular councillor forum, as well as investigating the council’s ability to do so while in caretaker mode.

Ms Sertori was contacted for comment, as was the BBC’s Chapel Street office and board chairman Michael Fleming.