Searching for a silver lining
Shannon has taken its hits. But there is hope new blood and a new highway will bring opportunity, writes Alex Loo.
Shannon is as close to Palmerston North as Feilding but it feels far more remote when walking down its main street.
The empty shops almost outnumber the open ones, the pavements are bare.
The corner pub, so often the social pulse of heartland communities, closed down months ago. It has been turned into a
boarding house. The town of about 1200 people wasn’t doing great before Suzie Johnson announced she would close her Oosh La La shop, as well as her other stores and Napier factory.
But the imminent exit of the heartland retail champion is a bitter blow, an additional reason for State Highway 57 travellers not to stop.
Shannon Four Square owner Corey Macmillan said the closure of Oosh La La would take with it some of the town’s vibrancy.
He said busloads of people used to come to Shannon, drawn to Johnson’s Kiwi-made fashion.
‘‘When Suzie was at her peak, Shannon turned into a destination ... it looked like the main street in Wellington some days.’’
Macmillan, who has owned the Four Square for 13 years, said his store had always done a steady trade as the town’s only grocer but he acknowledged times had been tough for retailers and service providers.
Kevin Gaye is the new kid on the block. He opened a barber shop in the town three weeks ago. He lived in Shannon during the 1990s when the town was ‘‘quite buzzy’’.
Gaye said seeing a swath of empty shops discouraged people from stopping in Shannon.
‘‘Once you see an empty shop, you just keep driving.’’
But Gaye remained optimistic. He hoped some ‘‘good young blood’’ representing Shannon on Horowhenua District Council might help to turn the town’s fortunes around.
Macmillan said retiring Miranui ward councillor Ross Campbell and Horowhenua mayor Michael Feyen’s tumultuous relationship with the rest of the councillors had hurt Shannon, and meant the town was overlooked in discussions.
‘‘I just hope that the next candidate is a little more positive than the previous candidate.’’
There are five candidates in the running for the Miranui ward, which covers Shannon and Tokomaru. It is a stark change from three years ago, when only two people ran for the single seat.
Vicki Olsen runs a business out of Shannanigans Shopping Complex, which houses several small shops. She said the past year had been slow for retailers.
‘‘Retail is really hard at the moment, people are shopping online.’’ Olsen, who has lived in Shannon for close to 30 years, said getting commuters to stop was the key to their survival but locals could also do more to support their town.
Most of her customers were people coming from out of town.
Macmillan and Olsen agreed that outlet stores could become Shannon’s lifeblood in the future.
Macmillan said shops from Otaki ¯ might look to relocate further north when the Ka¯ piti expressway was completed, as the road would divert the main traffic flow around O¯ taki.
Olsen said encouraging people to stop could be as simple as building a fenced play area for children and installing clearer signage for the public toilets.
She hoped the next Miranui councillor would be able to bring the issues of Shannon’s residents back to the council table.
‘‘We will all be glad for someone new. We need someone who is going to be pushier.’’
One of those candidates, Mark Clark, said Shannon was in ‘‘a bit of a rut’’.
He said encouraging housing developers would help boost the population.
The greater the rates base, the more say the town would have at the council table.
Les Frost, who used to be Shannon’s community pharmacist, is also running for the ward.
He wanted to turn Shannon into a tourist destination by promoting attractions, such as native bird park Owlcatraz, to bring more visitors to the town.