One business gone and others worried from stadium roadworks pinch
Monday, 4 November 2024
One shop is already gone in central Christchurch and other businesses are worried as the impact of being buried in road works close to the new stadium continues to be felt.
“This is now dire,” was the assessment from Pot Sticker Dumpling Bar’s accountant. The store’s owner Jason Dodd misses customers desperately - he only received nine food orders on Saturday before 6pm, of 54 in total. The business made $2400 in place of a typical $7000, prompting him to consider closing for lunch.
His store on Lichfield St is one of many “totally surrounded” by construction work to replace century-old water pipes and make above-ground changes to the area before the new One New Zealand Stadium at Te Kaha opens in April 2026.
The council expects the bulk of the work will be finished by mid-2025, with minor aspects continuing until spring 2025.
Meanwhile the city council will decide this week whether to push ahead with, pause, or cancel the third stage of the roadworks, after being told by NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) it was unlikely to get funding in its 2024 to 2027 programme.
Councillors will consider a report on Wednesday recommending that stage three go ahead as planned at a cost of $5.9m, despite the lack of Government funding for it.
The report says the rest of the $34m project is ahead of schedule, with 92% of stage one and 53% of stage two competed.
This final stage would include converting Lichfield St east of the stadium to a two-way system with taxi parking, switching Tuam St to a one-way system with coach parking, making pedestrian and cycle improvements, and completing landscaping and paving.
Motorists, businesses and pedestrians were warned to expect 18 months of disruption in August, a period of time that Barber Land owner Will Whiteman knew would be challenging for his rent payments. His business dropped more than 70% since the work began.
His concerns became a reality when he shut up shop two weeks ago because his “customer base vanished”.
“People just got put off all together and I will be very surprised if any [businesses] on the street survive for much longer,” Whiteman said.
He lost his initial investment and setting up costs, about $40,000, and took up a job working in another barbershop for someone else.
Whiteman called out Christchurch City Council’s “delusion” for not offering any compensation.
“I had a lot of meetings with them, the short simple answer was to give us some sort of financial support, through no fault of our own our business was being ruined, and they said ‘we don’t do that, you’re just going to tough it out’.”
The consultation with businesses had been sub par, he believed.
Dodd has owned the dumpling bar for seven years and said business income had plummeted from around $30,000 a week prior to the pandemic to about that figure per month now.
Business had trended down to the point where it was no longer sustainable because that money was still not profit and he had expenses to pay.
“It's the compounding effect of not having made any money for three years because of Covid, then no tourists, no workers in the CBD, now no one's got money, and to cap it all off the final nail in the coffin is the council have arranged roadworks that have completely cut us off from the bloody world.”
He had attended meetings with council staff who had offered “nothing” in terms of financial support.
“I want to survive, I want to be here when the stadium is finished, I want our customers to keep enjoying their food and being happy for the next 10 years.
“Our customers and their loyalty is so great that they would be disappointed if we suddenly disappeared, currently we've got 14 staff who rely on us.”
Dux Central owner Richard Sinke would not share how the roadworks had impacted business, but said he wanted to be involved to create a solution to ensure all the businesses survive.
Central Christchurch Councillor Jake McLellan said the works already under way were a “necessary evil” and that at the end of it the stadium would be “a real advantage” for the food and hospitality scene.
He was not aware if the council had any compensation policies and was confident that running the transport and water upgrade projects at the same time over 18 months was the right approach rather than doing smaller increments over a longer period.
The council had stopped charging affected businesses for their outdoor dining licences when requested, but Food Control Plans and Alcohol Licensing fees were annual and could not be reduced.
Council head of transport and waste management Lynette Ellis said to combat businesses’ concerns, council was in the consenting process to add temporary parking for patrons and delivery drivers, and had run ads in local papers and online to encourage people to support businesses in the area.
Council infrastructure general manager, Brent Smith said the next stage of works was “the final piece of the puzzle” to get the city ready for the new stadium.
If this third stage is done without NZTA funding, the council would need to rescope or defer other projects to avoid a 0.06% impact on rates, he said.
The staff report going to councillors says putting off the work would add $1.95m in extra costs in the meantime.
It would also mean extra traffic management would be required around the stadium once open, and create safety issues for Ara students in the area.
Delaying work until the stadium opens would mean further disruption for everyone including nearby business owners, the report says.