Easter trading seen as threat to families

Adrienne Staples

Family time could be the loser if councils throughout New Zealand decide to allow shops to open on Easter Sunday, Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson says.

Mrs Patterson was giving a personal appraisal of a Government move to hand decision-making on Easter Sunday trading to individual local bodies.

She said the issue as far as Masterton was concerned would involve the district council holding comprehensive consultation with the community, probably including a public meeting.

From her own perspective Mrs Patterson felt a question that needed answering was, "When do families have family time? If a staff member is called in to work on Easter Sunday this takes away family time.

"In Masterton we have a lot of family-owned and run businesses which could feel obliged to open if the council decides to allow Easter Sunday trading."

She said she was "mindful" of some people wanting more shopping hours but as it stood they had most of the 365 days in a year to do so.

"To me, it is about preserving the days families have left."

The upside of the Government's decision to offload the decision-making process was the realisation by central government that local councils were closer than it was to the wants of their communities, Mrs Patterson said.

Carterton Mayor John Booth said he agreed with Mrs Patterson.

His council would listen to the community to make the best decision.

"Lyn's made a good point and that's what I've been thinking too," Mr Booth said.

"Life's not all about shopping every day.

"When I say that I mean, that's my personal opinion. We will be consulting with our community to see how the community feels and what they would like us to do and once we've done that then we will obviously come up with a position at that time."

South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples said her council had not yet discussed the ramifications of the legislation change and that having shops open on Easter could cost ratepayers.

"My personal opinion is that it is a cop-out from central government as the legislation should be the same across the country," she said.

"What we could end up with in Wairarapa and across the region is shops in one town open but closed in another.

"This is just another thing that local government will have to consult on and administer with no thought of additional cost on ratepayers," she said.

"If we have to set the rules and decide to close on a Sunday, will we also have to enforce them? If so, there is another cost to the ratepayer; paying an inspector to see who's open."

Destination Wairarapa said it supported a change to Easter trading, saying it would benefit the economy and improve the visitor experience.

"We have been speaking with our members for years, including retailers, vineyards and restaurants, calling for Easter trading to be permitted," said marketing manager Barb Hyde.

"We now look forward to working with the three councils who can make that decision."