No to barber on the beach
Although Ian Wallace’s 1984 Alpha caravan was designed to be on the move, he’s looking for a permit to park it permanently.
Wallace’s caravan is home to his barber business Blue Lounge Barber. He spent three months transforming it into a classy, art deco barber shop for gents to come and chill out in.
He’s tried getting a permit from New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) to park his business somewhere long-term but was denied.
‘‘I’m set up as a business, not just a caravan rolling up,’’ Wallace said. ‘‘It’s a proper business, and it’s got to be regulated through the council to meet their requirements.
‘‘I had to put in a couple of applications of areas that I wanted to park, so I chose East End, Spotswood, Oakura, and they said, ‘We’ve looked at your proposal and your business plan, and the answer’s no’. I’m a little bit gutted.’’
Wallace said he was told that the council didn’t think his business would attract people to the area, and that it would take from other businesses.
‘‘The areas I’m asking about, there aren’t any barbers there. But I’m going to go back to them because I think it would be cool by the beach.’’
In a statement, council infrastructure manager David Langford said Blue Lounge Barber did not meet the council’s criteria.
‘‘NPDC works with business owners in some parks and reserves. Whilst we want to encourage entrepreneurship, we need to strike a balance with the character of our parks and reserves.
‘‘We want the businesses that operate from our parks to be recreational and boost people’s enjoyment of the reserve – such as a coffee cart or food stand owner. The Blue Lounge Barber caravan doesn’t meet those criteria, and so the application to operate in these sites was declined.’’
For now, Wallace parks at The Valley shopping centre on Fridays, Palmers Garden Centre on Wednesdays, and at weekend markets until he can find a permanent site.
‘‘Other than that, I’m struggling to get people to say, ‘Yeah man, you can park here’.’’
Originally from the Ka¯ piti Coast, Wallace spent the last 20 years living in West Yorkshire, England but started feeling the pull to come home.
‘‘Moving back to New Zealand is a different pace, it’s more relaxed, and I saw an opportunity to create a business that was kind of relaxed. It wouldn’t work in the UK.’’
Wallace has been open for business for two weeks and has had eight clients.
‘‘Facebook is a massive help – that’s a really powerful tool – and a lot of others are curious and just pop in.’’
Gary Willison was one of those curious ones running errands at The Valley when he spotted Wallace’s caravan. ‘‘I said to the wife, ‘Oh, I need a haircut, but I’ll leave it to next week’, and then thought, ‘Oh look, there’s a barber there’.’’