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Tight Turnaround For Easter Trading Policies
Kawerau and Ōpōtiki district councils both need to adopt new policies within the next few weeks if they want some shops in those districts to have the choice to open their doors on Easter Sunday.
The councils both introduced Easter Sunday Trading Policies in 2017, when new legislation provided them the opportunity to allowing shops to open on the holiday. However, those policies required renewal every five years and have been allowed to lapse.
Whakatāne District Council adopted a similar policy and renewed it in 2023.
Without the policies in place, only certain businesses are allowed to trade on Easter Sunday, such as dairies, petrol stations, garden centres and cafes.
The defeat of a bill before Parliament in December that would have done away with the need for such a policy means the councils now have only a month to have policies in place before Easter.
Kawerau District Council’s adopted a draft Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy which went out for consultation on February 17. Anyone wanted to have their say on this needs to do so by Monday (March 17).
Consultation opened on Ōpōtiki District Council’s draft Easter Sunday Trading Policy on Tuesday and closes on April 11. The council will meet to vote on adopting the policy on April 16.
Ōpōtiki District Council Strategy and Development Group Manager, Antoinette Campbell, said that there had been feedback that the lapse of the policy was frustrating for some local businesses that wished to trade on Easter Sunday.
“It is a good opportunity for us to talk to our community about re-adopting an Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy and make sure it is still the right fit for our communities,” she said.
“This draft policy is very similar to the one we had in place from 2017 to 2023 and that policy appears to have worked well, giving each business the choice to open or not.
“Our neighbours and all the other councils in the Bay of Plenty also have one in place or are working to have one in place for this Easter,” Ms Campbell said.
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