The Little City That Could seems Absolutely Positively Stuffed - Nicky Rennie

Bordeaux Bakery on Wellington's Thorndon Quay has closed with its owner blaming the impact of roading changes on the business. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Whanganui-based Nicky Rennie returned to her home town in 2018 while celebrating three decades in broadcasting. She has written a column for the Whanganui Chronicle since 2021.

THREE KEY FACTS

• Bordeaux Bakery has closed all three of its Wellington stores after a 60-70% drop in revenue, with 40 people losing their jobs.
• Owner Tony Bates blamed Wellington City Council road changes in Thorndon Quay for having a devastating impact on his business.
• Public Service Minister Nicola Willis has asked government departments to call their staff back to the office and to enforce stricter rules around working from home.

OPINION

A friend of mine recently celebrated his 40th birthday and his wife threw him a surprise party.

How on earth nobody let the cat out of the bag was beyond me, but surprised he was. The herculean effort required to keep my mouth shut if I was organising a surprise like that would be too much for me to handle. I managed to organise a surprise 25th wedding anniversary celebration for my parents but there were so many logistics that eventually I had to tell my father – so at least one of them got a surprise. Talk about stressful.

Forty is a distant memory for me now but I do remember turning 39 and deciding that, by the time I turned 40, I needed to get some ducks in order.

I have a group of four friends and we all went to college together. I’m the baby of the group so the last one to turn 40, but it was decided that we would all have a joint celebration and hit the capital together for the weekend. One of my frugal friends thought it would be a great idea to stay in the YHA. I was not happy about said arrangements because I thought, as we were all earning decent incomes, we could have splashed out on a hotel. She stuck to her guns, so the Youth Hostel it was. It’s the one right in the centre of Wellington and there is a handy-dandy supermarket over the road.

Let me tell you, there is nothing like communal showers to forge the bond between friends. I was horrified. The only other time I have had to have communal showers was when I went on a Rotary Youth Leadership Award and had to stay at Rathkeale. Suffice it to say, I wore togs, as did all the girls. Slightly uptight you say? Yip.

The reason I brought up the topic of Wellington is because I’m sad. It used to be a vibrant hub that had amazing energy. The reason we chose to go there was for just that vibe. Granted, we were younger but you could always guarantee that you would have an amazing time, there would be incredible restaurants and fantastic nightlife. Now it seems like every day another restaurant has to shut its doors due to the financial crisis and the ongoing roadworks. My daughter was one of these casualties when her chain of artisan bakeries closed after 25 years of business. She got straight out on the street and thankfully had another job within a week. A lot of people are not so lucky.

Based on a statement from ministries and the Public Service Association, there have been 7241 public sector cuts to date under this Government. Yes, the roadworks have had a massive impact but so does losing that many paid employees who support local businesses.

If that isn’t enough, they have tried to tell people not to work from home to reinvigorate the languishing city. It is not rocket science. It was always going to have a massive impact. Mind you, even if people do come back to support Wellington they don’t have anywhere to park. Lots of bus and cycle lanes, just no car parks, hence so many restaurants and cafes closing. People can’t get access to them.

Some seem to think Wellington has been here before. That’s where the Absolutely Positively Wellington marketing slogan came from. I don’t ever recall Wellington getting such a terrible rap and nobody seems to know what to do to fix it. It’s all well and good to try to order people back to the centre of town but with the cost-of-living crisis most people are too broke to spend money on anything anyway. The reality is that dining out is now a luxury many people can not afford. Hell, getting a coffee is now a luxury.

Wellington always used to conjure up The Little City That Could to me. Personally, I like to visit but I would not want to live there. Not being able to get out if there is an earthquake has always made me feel rather vulnerable – so once I’m out, I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s not like they can reverse the roadworks decision but, surely, they must have thought about the repercussions. Even if they staggered them, rather than have everything being done at once, that seems like common sense.

So, our poor beleaguered capital limps along. Add to that their water infrastructure issues and there does not seem to be much light at the end of the tunnel. Bags not being a council employee because, from where I’m sitting, Wellington seems Absolutely Positively Stuffed.