Construction delays plague CBD
Employees on Tokoroa’s main drag are scared they’ll lose their jobs due to financial losses as the CBD upgrade enters its sixth month.
South Waikato District Council expected the $4 million revitalisation project to take up to five months, but Mayor Jenny Shattock said it won’t be finished before the end of the year, some five months overdue.
The prolonged disruption has caused frustration for the owners of food outlets and retail stores lining Leith Place. They say they’ve suffered huge financial losses. And although the car park has opened up on the left side of the strip, it’s not enough for Unichem owner Mike Keys.
Businesses have cut hours or reduced their staff in some way to cope with the financial strain the upgrade has caused, Keys said.
He’s had to manage staff as well, but didn’t want to comment on how.
An employee who wished to remain anonymous said they are worried someone will lose their job.
The pharmacy has lost tens of thousands of dollars since the upgrade began and ‘‘certainly if it drags on through Christmas it will be well over $100,000’’.
‘‘Once you lose that amount of cash flow it takes a while to even catch up to where you once were so it’s going to take a significant amount of time,’’ Keys said. ‘‘I think it’s going to take a couple of years.’’
But Shattock said negative feedback has decreased as business owners watch the project progress.
‘‘Originally it was really stressful for them because we had cut off Leith Place to do the infrastructure work, but as time’s gone on the vehicles have been able to get back into Leith Place and the foot traffic’s increased.’’
Council releases a weekly flyer that tells readers what’s happened that week and what will happen the next week to keep locals and businesses informed.
‘‘We’re looking at the end of the year to early next year for the whole thing to be finished. I think we’ve lost 22 days already with wet weather,’’ Shattock said.
While Keys recognised the upgrade has potential to improve Tokoroa, the financial hit Unichem has taken is significant.
‘‘To be honest something had to be done and I’m encouraged that the council has spent money in doing it.
‘‘[But] the council needs to get behind that space they’ve now created and manage it appropriately to get foot traffic back into the CBD ... such as getting the farmers market back in on Saturdays.
‘‘As long as they track on and do the job as soon as they can, but I think it would be irresponsible to let it drag past November.’’
Saptak Patel, 23, is the manager of a dairy on Leith Place. The dairy, he said, loses up to $7000 a week. He estimates the total loss is about $100,000 since construction started.
‘‘The last four months [the carpark] was closed and we really felt the loss and people couldn’t park their car.
‘‘I’m worried about that loss because last year in November we bought the shop and in March the work started.’’ But Patel tries to be positive.
‘‘Hopefully when it’s finished we’ll get some more business.’’
Larry Sullivan, 55, owner of the clothing store Morrisseys, is pleased with the upgrade and hasn’t taken the hit others say they have.
‘‘It hasn’t effected us, we’re more of a destination than the food shops so it probably hasn’t effected us as bad, it’s just the mess.