Claim Food Act could sink cafes

THE owner of an Oamaru Harbour cafe says increased regulatory fees for eateries could make the cost of doing business unaffordable for many in town.

The Waitaki District Council proposal to cover costs from implementing and regulating the Food Act 2014 splits costs evenly between ratepayers and businesses, but this will mean an estimated average 69% fee rise for the Waitaki district’s 182 affected businesses.

Trish WoodsWhiting, of The Galley Cafe, said the new charges were ‘‘absolutely outrageous’’ and would lead to some small businesses closing.

‘‘A lot of cafes in this town are struggling. There are just so many eateries in this town [compared with] the population.’’

The council’s consultation document states the new Food Act is ‘‘a riskbased regulatory regime that places a primary duty on people trading in food to ensure that the food sold is safe and suitable.’’.

Several submitters opposed the new fees, including Hospitality NZ, an advocacy group with 28 Waitaki members, which wants more transparency in the charges and lower fees.

Bevan Smith, of Riverstone Kitchen, favours a flat fee over hourly fees that could lead to ‘‘inflated fee blowouts’’.

Riverstone Kitchen’s Kate Proctor presented the concerns of the ‘‘high turnover, but low margin’’ awardwinning restaurant last week and asked whether the council would consider capping the fees.

Council regulatory services manager Lichelle Guyan said two years ago the council considered raising fees 80% to recover costs. Because of impending legislation changes, it deferred the matter.

She defended the council proposal for an hourly rate to compensate the council for the time it spent enforcing the new legislation.

A fixed rate inspection option ‘‘almost penalises the people that are setting good practice where we might spend less time there . . . it just isn’t the fairest way to do it given that the intention of the Act is to have people more responsible for their own food safety’’.

Waitaki Mayor Gary Kircher said it was ‘‘good for us to hear the reality’’; he believed it was a Government attempt to ‘‘fix a situation that isn’t really broken’’.

Cr Peter Garvan said businesses should take their concerns to Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean. They ‘‘should be at her door screaming about the costs of running small businesses’’.

Mrs Dean said her door was ‘‘always open’’, adding the Food Act was ‘‘a vastly improved piece of legislation on what we had before’’.

‘‘The bottom line with this is public safety,’’ she said. ‘‘I absolutely stand by the importance of having good legislation.’’

The council is scheduled to vote on the new fees on March 29.

hamish.maclean@odt.co.nz