Mayor explores rates relief for businesses struggling through roadworks

Friday, 19 June 2026

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith says he will explore rates relief for businesses directly affected by major roadworks in the CBD - if landlords provide relief too.

On Wednesday, Smith met a group of shop owners pleading for financial help during lengthy work to upgrade Bridge St, which some have said was pushing them to the brink of collapse.

Owner of Pizzeria Bella on Bridge St, Yusuf Corten said he hadn’t earned a single dollar for three months, with customer numbers plunging as the “Bridge to Better” project ramped up outside his restaurant’s front door.

Lisa Dunker who owns new fibre arts shop, Common Threads, said anyone who came into the Bridge St business told her they didn’t even know her store was there.

“[It’s] because nobody’s coming to Bridge St, and nobody’s coming to Nelson.”

The council is upgrading its three-water services along Bridge St to enable inner city developments, and reduce the flooding of Wakatu Square car park during king tides.

Above ground, the council planned to make Bridge St and Haven Rd a “people-focused corridor”.

Roadworks along the street had closed car parks, and customers had been lost to Richmond, businesses told the meeting.

The roadworks in Bridge St and other roadworks in the CBD made access to central Nelson difficult, they said.

“There’s no way of getting into town without hitting 14 road blocks on the way,” Dunker said.

People were “gobsmacked” when they realised Bridge to Better wasn’t due to finish until mid-2027, she said.

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith has met at least one demand from central city businesses which say they are facing closure amid roadworks in the CBD. On Wednesday, he sat down with a group of Bridge St shop owners to discuss their call for financial help - proposing rates relief if landlords provided relief too.

Body piercing business Gizmos said people who called the shop mistakenly assumed the whole of Bridge St was closed.

Mark Rumsey from Champion Commerce represented landlords for 16 affected businesses on Bridge St and Trafalgar St.

Nine businesses had directly asked for some form of rent abatement, relief, and financial support to help keep their doors open, he said.

A petition from business owners to Nelson City Council earlier this month demanded immediate help.

Bridge St business Gizmos says its customers often falsely assume Bridge St shops are closed due to ongoing works to replace water pipes there.

Suggestions included rates relief, emergency hardship grants and support for an appeal to landlords for temporary rent reduction.

Smith reiterated that the council couldn’t provide financial compensation to anyone affected by roadworks.

“No matter where you are in New Zealand, if there are pipes or roads that need to be upgraded, there will be disruption for you, and that is simply part of living.”

But he acknowledged it was a difficult time for small businesses in the area, with disruption from the roadworks on top of winter being a tough period, and cost increases.

Yusuf Corten, owner of Pizzeria Bella in Bridge St, is spearheading calls from business owners for financial help amid lengthy roadworks in Nelson CBD.

He proposed exploring the option of deferring rates for the 2026-2027 year for businesses directly affected by the project, with the rates then being paid back over three years after the project finished.

But only if landlords agreed to provide relief over those 12 months too, he said.

Landlords would enjoy “substantive improvements” in the capital value of their properties as a result of the improved street-scape, he said.

Rumsey said there wasn’t a capital gain for owner landlords if they didn’t have a tenant in their building.

But the proposal was a “pretty good salve”, allowing businesses to put pressure on landlords to subsidise rent over the period, he said.

“Good landlords are looking for their tenancies to be secure.”

If landlords gave rent relief, it would be up to individual leaseholders and owners to work out if that would be repaid, he said

Some businesses questioned if the relief proposal was enough to help them stay afloat until the end of the project.

Smith said typical rates for a small business in the area were $5000-7000 a year, and the relief came from other people who were also under financial pressure.

He emphasised he needed to discuss the rates proposal with council staff and councillors, and it would be subject to council approval.

There would be a pause in the project over the peak summer period, from at least mid December to late January, council staff said.

Council would push communications that Bridge St businesses were open, they said.