Tauranga businesses want the council to make it easier for them to use the footpath, rather than adding more regulations.

Tauranga City Council is proposing to charge per square metre for street dining in the city centre and Mount Maunganui.

The fees would help maintain and improve the spaces with the charging system phased in over time.

Hearings for the draft Street Use Policy were held at a Strategy, Finance and Risk Committee meeting today.

Downtown Tauranga chair Ashleigh Gee said the council should consult with businesses before creating more regulations.

Licences to occupy the street would be on a month-to-month basis.

Gee said the licences should be for at least six months or a year.

“Operators need certainty, we should be focusing on how to make it easier.”

The fees should be based on the amount of foot traffic, location and type of space each area had, she said.

Downtown Tauranga chair Ashleigh Gee said they should be making it easier for businesses. Photo: Alisha Evans/ SunLive.

“Considering the overall goal of increasing arts, culture and vibrancy for our region, [this] needs to be considered between developing further regulations on the hospitality industry.

“This industry is one of the main drawcards for our tourists.

“A council that considers this industry and works with them to elevate businesses will win.”

Mount Business Association representative Claudia West said a nominal fee, then a yearly licence fee might be accepted by businesses.

“If the charge is based on things like market rate of that space, then this might be thousands for businesses who are already paying premium rate to be in that location.

“If high charges were in place, then businesses would need to rethink their offering, or these costs would simply have to be passed on to the customer to make it viable to use the footpath space.

“If higher charges come in for businesses, this would have a massive impact on the look and feel of our main street.”

The council should look at Wellington and Hamilton’s street use policies, she said.

Mount Business Association representative Claudia West didn’t want the footpath charges to be based on market rates. Photo: Alisha Evans/ SunLive.

Wellington charged an initial fee to get a licence to occupy the street then a renewal fee, said West.

The Mount shopping area was also seasonal and weather dependent but businesses would have to pay to use the footpath year round, she said.

During consultation costs weren’t provided for the use of footpath space so it was hard to agree or disagree with something if you didn’t know the cost, said West.

Jo Veale who owns three businesses in Mount Maunganui said the information provided during consultation was “vague”.

She wanted to see research as to why an intervention in the street use policy was needed.

Veale asked for data about how many businesses were encroaching on the pedestrian part of the footpath.

“Is there really a problem?”

Her preference was that the “handful” of businesses that encroached on the footpath creating safety issues be spoken to rather than adding in charges and regulations.

“These are the livelihoods of people and also the jobs that they create. If we can't keep a thriving, humming tourist town, then jobs will go, businesses will close, and we will end up … with a ghost town.”

Hospitality New Zealand regional manager Luke van Veen said they were opposed to the policy. Photo: Alisha Evans/ SunLive.

Hospitality New Zealand regional manager Luke van Veen said they were opposed to the policy because of its lack of information.

“It's very hard to support this when we have very little understanding of what's been put in front of us.

“We're looking at about 180 operators [in Tauranga] being told what they can and can't do with their street space.”

Hospitality was “very hard” across New Zealand let alone in Tauranga where it was “very much under construction”, said van Veen.

The committee will hold deliberations on the policy on December 4.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.