Easter Sunday shopping to be determined by local councils under new law

“This is great news, ” Wanaka Paper Plus manager Chris Lumsden said yesterday.

We all want what’s best for Rotorua.

But in the meantime, being able to open on Easter Sunday would give regions a boost, he said.

“The [current] law allows certain shops selling specific items to remain open, while others must close their doors”, he says.

Many businesses in Rotorua have long felt aggrieved that they can’t legally open on Easter Sunday, when those just down the highway in Taupo can.

Mr Woodhouse said that meant some businesses and regions had an unfair advantage, and there was demand from people across the country to allow for shop trading on Easter Sunday.

He admits the current rules covering shop trading over the Easter period are “complex and relatively arbitrary”.

LGNZ President Lawrence Yule says by allowing councils to determine, in consultation with their communities whether or not, and if so where, Easter Sunday trading should occur the Bill is a welcome step towards decentralisation and community empowerment.

Deputy mayor of Queenstown Lakes district council Lyal Cocks, who is also a Wanaka councillor, said retailers there had taken to flouting the ban in recent years.

Paper Plus had successfully fought two charges for breaching the law.

“This is really geared for the huge visitor numbers… that we have here in Rotorua”, Ms Chadwick said.

“The judge thought it was wasting the court’s time”. And even if Rotorua does introduce a bylaw, Mr Woodhouse has said it’s not likely to be effective until 2017.

“The key to maximising the benefit of the visitor economy is giving them every opportunity to spend their money, and if we have a visitor… who simply can’t spend the dollars in their wallet because the shops are closed or the attractions aren’t open, then that’s a missed opportunity”. The proposed law was “a step in the right direction”, but it was a “half hearted measure” if it did not include Good Friday as well, he said.

Adding to the confusion garden centres can be open on Easter Sunday, but not Good Friday.

“This acknowledges Easter Sunday’s continued status as a day of significance across the country, and maintains the ability of workers to take a period of leave over the Easter holiday if they choose”, Mr Woodhouse says.

“Has the Minister forgotten that, while he says workers may decline to work on Easter Sunday for no reason, those workers on a 90 day trial who refuse to work can be dismissed for no reason”.

“Power relations in a workplace make it impossible for a worker to refuse to work”.

While Mr Little agrees the law does need changing, he says it’s parliament’s job to come up with a solution.

“There was no reason why Wanaka could not be granted an exemption every second year for celebrations held there that drew thousands of people, she said”.

“It’s an empty promise, ” she said. “It’s as much about being available to the locals as it is about shops being open for holidays makers”, he said.