Tiny Shops get fright after Christchurch council email

Christchurch City Council staff quickly rescinded an unauthorised email exploring the potential to shut down and sell some assets of the Linwood Village Tiny Shops complex.

Urban design, regeneration and heritage manager Carolyn Ingles said an email about decommissioning the Tiny Shops was inadvertently sent to community groups from the council.

“However, this was a staff error. There is no immediate plan to decommission Tiny Shops,” Ingles said.

Linwood Village at 108 Stanmore Rd is managed by Te Whare Roimata Trust, and co-ordinator Jenny Smith said initially the news came as a bit of a shock.

"We know this is a time-limited project but people were a bit stressed when we first heard of the email circulating.

"But it was quickly sorted out by council and everyone was relieved."

The trust provides grass roots neighbourhood responses to the needs and concerns identified by residents from the eastern inner city.

In 2014 the trust transformed a vacant Linwood site into a small shopping centre with six 2m x 2m shops still occupied today by a variety of retailers.