Sole catering rights at risk
The cafe in the middle of Palmerston North’s popular Victoria Esplanade is grappling with uncertainty about its future.
Cafe Esplanade business owner Mark Tregoweth was hoping the council would extend his lease through to 2026.
But city councillors are recommending he wait until November before they agree to an extension beyond June 2023.
Based on advice from parks and reservesmanager Kathy Dever-tod and property manager Bryce Hosking, they want to keep their options open to change the details of his deal.
Tregoweth said he had owned the business for nearly six years.
He said he had been a loyal and honest tenant, and his team had worked hard to create a safe and welcoming space for a variety of people with various budgets and dietary needs.
He was proud to have brought the cafe and its staff successfully through the tough times created by the Covid-19 pandemic, and he was keen to invest in the future of the business and provide employment security for 15 staff.
Until recently, he said communications with council staff created little doubt the lease extension would be granted.
But Dever-tod said the lease should not be extended until the council had time to do a strategic review of hospitality and catering services in the Esplanade.
The park had undergone considerable change, with the opening ofwildbase Recovery and the Junior Road Safety Park, withmore developments likely to follow, such as setting up aminigolf course.
The centre of gravity for activities had moved towards the playground area.
Council staff wanted an opportunity to look at the clause in the cafe’s lease that gave it sole catering rights, to review access for mobile food and drink vendors, and consider whether healthyfood rules should be considered, such as discouraging the sale of sugary drinks.
Cr Vaughan Dennison said given Tregoweth had told them he was open to variations of his leasemid-term, the council should be pro-business and give him the certainty he needed.
‘‘As for selling sugary drinks and the likes – that’s the very reason we take kids there, for a treat.’’
Cr Renee Dingwall said the business had done well to survive the past five years while so many others had succumbed to the pressures of rising costs, loss of customers and the associated emotional and financial stress.
After all that, and the impacts of the pandemic, she did not want issues created in the council chamber to be the reason for the business failing.
Chairwoman of the council’s finance and audit committee Susan Baty successfully proposed the compromise, that instead of accepting or declining the request for an extension, the decision should be deferred until the review was completed in November.
Tregoweth said the decision was reasonable.