Council urged to pull Arts Centre funding over food hub plan
Wednesday, 2 October 2024
Business leaders are urging the city council to halt funding to Christchurch’s Arts Centre Trust if it backs a request for it to become a food hub, calling such a move a “kick in the guts” for permanent businesses that have come through one of the “harshest winters in recent memory”.
But centre director Philip Aldridge says Christchurch is growing and his trust would only complement the city’s hospitality offerings.
The trust recently applied to the Christchurch City Council for resource consent to increase the maximum number of food trucks on its site to 33, and for them to operate for up to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
The council said it wanted to limit the number to 25, to which Aldridge agreed, but a final agreement has not been reached. The site currently has a handful of food trucks as part of a trial.
Annabel Turley, chairperson of the Central City Business Association, asked councillors on Wednesday to stop all long-term funding to the trust if the food truck plan gets the go-ahead.
Her petition was signed by almost 70 businesses and organisations, including Hospitality NZ and businesses along The Terrace.
Turley, accompanied by Riverside Market owner Richard Peebles, said they supported food trucks at special events, but the Arts Centre’s plans “isn’t a food festival”.
“This is a permanent encroachment on the livelihoods of businesses that have invested their blood, sweat, and dollars into this city.
“And it sends a dangerous message: Why pour your heart into a permanent business when you can just pop up a caravan and cash in?”
Turley said the association’s members were already paying for the Arts Centre through rates, subsidising it to the tune of $5.5 million over the next decade.
“It’s like asking a boxer to fight with one hand tied behind their back. And then, for good measure, slapping them in the face by rolling in a fleet of food trucks that don’t have to deal with the same financial commitments.
“Why invest in bricks and mortar when you can get some wheels and a parking permit?
“And, while we’re at it, let’s not forget what the Arts Centre stands for. It’s not drive-through takeaways. It’s a cultural hub that reflects the history and heart of Christchurch.
Aldridge said the Art Centre’s cultural and historical value wasn’t at all threatened by the presence of food trucks.
“This is a community centre and food trucks have been at The Arts Centre for decades. At least seven of the food businesses at Riverside had their roots at The Arts Centre. Our offerings are complementary.”
He did not think food trucks were a threat to the rest of central Christchurch’s hospitality industry, saying the city was growing and needed more options.
“We ask for your leadership. Christchurch deserves a level playing field. We cannot, and will not, stand by while the businesses that are this city’s backbone are undermined.”
Craig Ling, owner of The Little Fiddle Irish pub on Oxford Tce, agreed a food hub at the Arts Centre would be a “slap in the face to hospitality in Christchurch”.
Hospitality businesses in the city had experienced a “very, very hard” winter, he said, paying steep rent, retaining staff and losing customers while people stayed at home.
“With the economic climate in winter, it’s got very quiet in hospitality and this is the last thing that should be going on,” Ling said, saying it would be unfair having “fly-by-nighters set up and taking all our business”.
He thought the food hub could drive customers away from the city, in the current economic climate.
“It’s the Arts Centre, for god’s sake. It’s got beauty and history; they didn't have food trucks 100 years ago.”