Albert St City Convenience Store owner Richard Choi was robbed at gunpoint last weekend. Photo / Dean Purcell
Albert St City Convenience Store owner Richard Choi was robbed at gunpoint last weekend. Photo / Dean Purcell
Richard Choi is feeling depressed.
Business at his convenience store has plummeted by more than half since work started on the central city route of the $4.4 billion City Rail Link in 2016, and he faces five more years of disruption from the next stage of the project.
If that'snot bad enough, Choi said fencing erected near his store on Albert St for the latest CRL works provided cover for an armed robbery last weekend.
The migrant from South Korea was on his own in the store on Albert St on Sunday afternoon when two young masked men entered the store with handguns and demanded cash and cigarettes or they would kill him.
Construction on Albert St for the City Rail Link is causing problems for local business. Photo / Dean Purcell
He handed over a small amount of cash, two packets of cigarettes and a lighter before the pair left. A short time later, Choi said police arrested the two men. He didn't sleep a wink that night.
"Every day and every night I'm stressed," said Choi, one of several small business owners facing eight years of disruption from the CRL works along Albert St.
"My business is almost dead," he said.
Asked to comment on Choi's assertion fencing provided a cover for the robbery, City Rail Link Ltd boss Dr Sean Sweeney said it complied with health and safety legislation to isolate the public from construction works along Albert St.
He said the wire mesh was wide enough to provide clear vision from both sides of the fencing and the full width of the footpath and the section of road remained open.
Choi is one of several business owners copping a double whammy from the CRL because they are located midway along Albert St where stage one and two works overlap.
The businesses are facing exceptional hardship through no fault of their own from prolonged delays on stage one and years more financial hardship and mental stress from stage two.
Screams for help have been heard by the central city business Group Heart of the City and Mayor Phil Goff, who believe there is a strong case for a financial hardship package, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Transport Minister Phil Twyford are dragging the chain.
Speaking to Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB this week, Ardern acknowledged the concerns in one breath and expressed concerns about setting a precedent in another.
Twyford continues to say he is considering a proposal by Goff, which angers Heart of the City chief executive Viv Beck, who has called on him to immediately front up and show he cares about Auckland businesses.
"We have to carefully consider the potential flow-on costs for the taxpayer. Whatever decision is made on this, it's important that we are fair, consistent and appropriately careful with public money, " Twyford said.
Albert St Florist Shobhana Ranchhodji says business has plummeted because of the City Rail Link works. Photo / Dean Purcell
Florist Shobhana Ranchhodji said Twyford should come to her shop and work out how to pay the landlord and rates, put on a smile when a customer comes through the door and go home at night to talk with the family around the table.
"At this moment we have got no hope," said Ranchhodji, saying her business will not survive five more years of disruption without a financial solution.
Sweeney said a development response plan was being planned by the Link Alliance building stage two for a new rail station below Albert St between Victoria and Wellesley Sts.
He said it would "enhance" the existing initiatives that amounted to $72,225 over a two-year period, including promoting businesses to the hundreds of CRL workers, business advertising on hoardings and extra events.
The budget was being finalised, said Sweeney, adding stage two would also involve a top-down construction method that encloses some of the disruption and effects such as noise and dust. Preliminary works start next month and main works early next year.
Business is "bad, bad, bad", said Alex Law, who owns a photo and photocopy business near the intersection of Victoria and Albert Sts.
To address a slump in business, he is has extended his hours, started cutting keys and sublet the front of the shop.
"People can understand a project that takes three months, eight months, but four years plus another four to five years, you are looking at a fifth of your working life," he said.
Law said measures like advertising to attract more customers to Albert St are a waste of money because people are not coming to the area, nor will they when there is disruption, traffic congestion and lack of parking.
Victoria St Lotto shop owner Jaydee Patel wants rates relief. Photo / Dean Purcell
"Everyone thinks there should be financial help. My rent has gone up by 30 per cent and Auckland Council rates keep going up. It doesn't make sense. It's not good," said Law, who wants the council to provide rates relief to affected businesses.
Jaydee Patel, whose general store and lotto outlet is struggling financially after the stage one works and fears worse from stage two, would also like some council love in the form of rates relief.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
If you are worried about your or someone else's mental health, the best place to get help is your GP or local mental health provider. However, if you or someone else is in danger or endangering others, call 111.
If you need to talk to someone, the following free helplines operate 24/7:
DEPRESSION HELPLINE: 0800 111 757 LIFELINE: 0800 543 354 NEED TO TALK? Call or text 1737 SAMARITANS: 0800 726 666 YOUTHLINE: 0800 376 633 or text 234
There are lots of places to get support. For others, click here.
