Marc Ellis pulls out of Piha cafe venture

Marc Ellis. Photo / Greg Bowker

TV personality Marc Ellis has pulled out of a venture to open a cafe in Piha, only weeks after a court victory cleared the way for the embattled eatery to go ahead.

Ellis and four surfing friends spent almost three years and $200,000 gaining resource consent and fighting a legal appeal by a group called Protect Piha Heritage Trust.

In February, an Environment Court ruling dismissed the appeal.

But last month, Ellis, known for his publicity stunts and roguish persona, emailed his business partners to say it was time to part ways because of a disagreement over the kind of cafe they would open.

Ellis wanted to open a franchise of Queenstown's award-winning Joe's Garage Cafe, but his friends wanted their own unique cafe.

"None of us has run a cafe before. What I was trying to mitigate was the challenge of trying to do it successfully," said Ellis. "I'm sure they'll nail it, but I like to be hands-on and it would involve more time than I was prepared to give."

He said the attraction of a Joe's Garage franchise was that it was a proven business model that fitted the casual beach setting.

The Sports Cafe presenter and former All Black insisted there were no hard feelings.

"We're adults; that's life, no major. It's the way business rolls sometimes."

The four friends left to open the cafe are Richard Hatton, David Bensley, Dr Christian Fougere and Andrew Higgs. Fougere and Higgs live in Piha.

Hatton, who works in event sponsorship, said Ellis was still a good mate. "We were having a beer with him the other night. He won't be getting any cheap coffees, that's all I'm going to say."

Hatton said he doubted his high-profile friend's departure would change local criticism of the plan.

"It was never about his profile - everybody else made it about the profile. Regardless of who attempted a venture like this, they would have been opposed by these people."

Hatton was confident the cafe would be a success.

"Every single business can't have the business owners on it the whole time. They have to rely on the quality of the staff, and there's plenty of good talent in Piha."

Sandra Coney, Auckland regional councillor and Protect Piha Heritage spokeswoman suggested a chain cafe might have alienated people who supported the venture.

"The community has been split between people who wanted to keep things how they are and people who wanted a neighbourhood cafe. My impression is they were after something low-key that was serving the local community."

Coney said the trust was very disappointed at the legal outcome.

"There's great concern that with a foot in the door this type of activity will proliferate and we'll end up being commercialised. We want to keep Piha a place where people enjoy the simple things of life."

Hatton said the cafe would open by Labour Weekend.