Mayor angers city bar owner

A Rotorua bar owner is spitting tacks because the district's mayor suggested he change his business to a wine bar after he gained about 700 signatures on a petition against the council's new Green Corridor.

Ross Swenson, who has owned and operated Kiwi Spirit Bar for 18 years, said Rotorua Mayor Steve Chadwick did not know the drinking habits of his clients and the Green Corridor outside his Hinemoa St business was driving customers away.

In an email to Mr Swenson's landlord, who contacted the mayor with regard to the concern surrounding the Green Corridor and its impact on business, Mrs Chadwick said he could reinvent his bar.

The email was sent to the Rotorua Daily Post by Mr Swenson's landlord.

"I reckon he could make the coolest wine bar for the Backpackers as their local from down by the Basement theatre," she wrote.

"He is in a good spot for that niche business."

Mrs Chadwick told the Rotorua Daily Post that the Green Corridor was an opportunity for people to rethink their businesses and offered other opportunities.

Mr Swenson, who has collected 700 signatures on a petition to get the 29 lost car parks reinstated on the block between Fenton St and City Focus, said backpackers already frequented his bar - and they liked to drink RTDs and shots - but that did nothing to address the issue at heart.

"If the council is saying the Green Corridor is such a good idea, prove it. How many signatures do they need to take action?

"People have complained in my bar and there have been quite a few letters to the editor. I know councillors are for the Green Corridor but what about the businesses? Don't they care about them?"

He said he would present the petition at the next council meeting and that business was down by about 25 per cent since the change.

It was his takeaway food arm that was worst hit and if nothing changed he "would be forced to move".

"A takeaway needs parking for people to come."

Mr Swenson's landlord Brendan Arkwright said he supported the cycleway but not at the expense of car parks.

"It's been a rush job. Everyone could have been kept happy. The footpath is almost five metres wide."

There are 29 shopfronts on this block of Hinemoa St and of these only 13 are occupied. Some of the empty shops have been vacant for more than six years.

A commercial building on the south side of the block recently sold at auction for half of its capital value. The building, which used to house Heartland Bank, Salon St Bruno and a souvenir shop, was valued a year ago at $740,000 but sold at auction for $370,000.

Mrs Chadwick said Mr Swenson and other critics were being premature as the project was not yet finished.

"Wait until the loop is finished and then they'll see traffic," she said.

"It's an opportunity for businesses to think of the public that will be using it. I see Mr Swenson's negative response but I see it's an opportunity to re-gear businesses. We're trying to strengthen the spine of Tutanekai St but the ribs are also important."

She said the vacant buildings were not limited to retail and council was trying to attract other businesses to the CBD.