What do you think about retailers opening on Easter Sunday?

Easter Sunday trading has been a part of Napier’s retail scene since 2018. The policy granting Napier retailers permission to trade on this public holiday is now up for review, with community consultation open now.

Easter Sunday is a significant trading day for Napier’s retailers, given the high number of visitors over Easter weekend. That said, it’s important that the policy strikes the right balance to ensure that employees’ right to have this day off work is also respected.

Council’s current policy allows individual retailers to open if they choose. The policy refers to the Workers Choice Provision in the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990, which grants employees the ability to refuse work on Easter Sunday without repercussions to the employment relationship. The consultation opens on Thursday 14 September and closes on Thursday 12 October. Submissions can be made on sayitnapier.nz, or paper submission forms are available at Napier Libraries and NCC’s Customer Service Centre.

A huge thank you to everyone who has donated to the Napier Mayoral Relief Fund. Thank you to every individual, every business, every school group, every organisation, known and anonymous, from Raumati Beach School to the Napier RSA, and all the 100 donors in between.

Whether it was $50 or $5,000, every person - and every cent - matters and has made a difference to our community.

We’ve been supported, cared for, fed, fuelled up, tooled up, been given some fun and some practical help thanks to the Mayoral Relief Fund. The grant has been used for things like diesel for machinery used during the clean-up, meals and accommodation for helpers, new CCTV and new GPS units, events for our most impacted communities, a brand new basketball court in Petane, and specific grants for the homeowners and tenants of red and yellow stickered properties.

Cyclone Gabrielle had a big impact on our region. What’s had an even bigger impact is the power of people to get behind those in need, give a little or a lot, and help out wherever they can.