Dunedin Easter trading views varied

Council to consider extending poker machine policy

DUNEDIN appears to be a city divided on whether shops should be open on Easter Sunday.

Of submissions in a consultation process, 53% want the status quo — in which only businesses such as garden centres and dairies can open on Easter Sunday — while 44% want all shops to be allowed to open.

Even in the retail sector there are thoughts on either side: an Otago Chamber of Commerce survey shows 54% of retail businesses surveyed want the option of opening, while 39% do not, with the rest undecided.

Only half of the percentage who said they supported the idea said they would actually open.

A comment from one member said they were ‘‘absolutely opposed’’ to the idea.

‘‘As a community and as a society we do not need yet another retail day nor further disruption to family/personal time.’’

While large retailers supported shops opening on the day, unions have opposed the idea.

In August, the Dunedin City Council voted to put out for consultation a draft policy to allow shops to open on Easter Sunday, although councillors were fairly evenly split on the proposal.

Some argued the city needed to be open for business no matter what day it was, and others were keen to protect the rights of workers to have all of the three and ahalf days set aside for holidays.

The policy would include ‘‘right to refuse’’ provisions, allowing employees to refuse to work on the day, without repercussions.

Next Easter will coincide with a visit by Ed Sheeran, who will perform three sellout concerts, bringing tens of thousands of people to Dunedin.

Decisions on Easter Sunday trading were devolved to councils after the Government amended the Shop Trading Hours Act last year.

Queenstown Lakes, Clutha and Central Otago District Councils have adopted such policies, while Waitaki District Council is in consultation and Invercargill City Council decided against.

The Chamber of Commerce called on the council to consider introducing a policy, and its sub mission showed of 101 members who responded to a survey, 63 supported the proposed policy, while 35 opposed it.

Three were unsure. Respondents’ comments included one that said common sense should prevail, ‘‘especially as we have a city full of visitors for the 2018 Easter period re Ed Sheeran concerts’’.

From a survey of just retail members, 18 supported, 13 opposed and two were uncertain.

Only nine of the 18 in support said they would open if the rules changed.

One comment in the survey said the pressure on staff and on small businesses to work was ‘‘unacceptable’’.

The chamber, however, supported the policy.

Chamber chief executive Dougal McGowan yesterday said his members favoured a permissive approach in which ‘‘businesses should have the right to be open if they choose to’’.

Other submissions included one from Countdown, which said if the policy was introduced it would most likely open just one or two of its four Dunedin stores to service tourists and others keen to shop.

The business had staff from a diverse range of ethnic, demographic and religious backgrounds.

‘‘While some people may wish to observe Easter Sunday, others will be grateful for the additional shift.

Bunnings said Easter was a popular time for projects in homes and gardens, and customers would appreciate the store being open.

In centres where shops could open on Easter Sunday, demand was similar to, or exceeded other Sundays.

First Union said retail workers were ‘‘deeply opposed’’ to the proposed change.

The three and ahalf guaranteed days off were precious to workers.

Unions Otago said it did not consider the ‘‘right to refuse’’ provisions a good safeguard for workers.

A public hearing will be held on November 13 before hearings committee chairman Cr Andrew Whiley, and Crs Marie Laufiso, Kate Wilson and Damian Newell.

A CLAMPDOWN on poker machines in South Dunedin may be extended across the city, after a reversal in what has been a steady decline in the multimillion dollar gambling spend.

The Dunedin City Council will on Tuesday consider a report on the city’s gambling and TAB policy that recommends extending a sinking lid on the machines, banning new venues and relocations of existing ones.

The numbers of venues and machines have been steadily declining, but the spend rose from $16.4 million in 2015 to $16.6 million last year.

Dunedin district licensing commit tee secretary Kevin Mechen, who helped write the report, said he did not know what caused the rise, but it could be a result of cruise ship passengers using the machines when they came to the city.

The report said the extension of the sinking lid policy would make ‘‘a clear statement that gambling is harming the community’’.

It has been supported by the Problem Gambling Foundation, which yesterday described the policy as ‘‘the best available’’ to councils.

The report to the planning and environment committee said the policy was due for review.

When it was last reviewed in 2013, a sinking lid was adopted for South

Dunedin and a cap introduced for the rest of the city.

The report said South Dunedin was an area with ‘‘a very high number’’ of the machines, compared with the rest of Dunedin, and the rest of New Zealand.

But since the introduction of polices to deal with the issue, the number of venues and machines had declined at a rate greater than the rest of the country.

For the whole of Dunedin, the number of machines had dropped 40%, from 704 in 2006 to 423 in 2016, while the number of venues had dropped 47%, from 61 to 32.

There had been a 21% decrease in machines in South Dunedin, and 16% for the rest of the city.

Nationally the decrease was 12%. Treatment providers had told the council the sinking lid in South Dunedin had been valuable, and they wanted the support of a citywide policy.

Problem Gambling Foundation marketing and communications director Andree Froude said many councils around the country had introduced sinking lids.

‘‘The key thing there is whether they’re true sinking lids, as in a sinking lid without relocations under any circumstances.’’

Such a policy meant there would be no new licences issued, and venues would not be able to move.

That policy would eventually get numbers down.

‘‘That is the best policy available to councils, and certainly one that we support.’’

Such policies had reduced the number of machines in New Zealand, though over the past two years there had been a rise in the spend.

That was in the context of a trend downwards since the Gambling Act was introduced in 2003.

‘‘We still do want to see the numbers of machines going down, and it’s the best policy available to councils, the sinking lid.

‘‘If the Dunedin City Council is going to introduce a true sinking lid, that’s fantastic.’’