The Selwyn District Council agreed landlords of businesses affected by intensive roadworks on Gerald St could apply for rates relief which would then be passed onto their tenants.
The rates reduction received will rely on the businesses proving how much revenue they have lost since the roadworks started in October.
For landlords to qualify for a rates reduction their tenants have to show evidence of a decline in turnover of more than 25%. A 25–50% decline in turnover may warrant a 50% rates remission, while a greater than 50% decline may warrant a full rates remission.
Shaun Pont, landlord of a block of shops on the south side of Gerald St, which he will develop into a hospitality and retail precinct, said the relief is “pretty minimal”.
For his smaller tenants, the savings will likely be less than $100 a month, while for larger tenants like Hammer Hardware, the savings might be about $500 a month, he said.
"It’s not much in the scheme of things.”
Pont plans to personally match any reduction passed onto his tenants.
Businesses have to provide evidence to landlords, who have to apply to the council on their behalf.
The council did look at setting up a targeted relief fund, which businesses could apply to directly, as councils in Auckland and Wellington have done, but said it would have taken longer to set up.
The council said each application will be considered individually, and after each is approved, the council estimated 10 working days to provide any funds.
Hammer Hardware owner Manny Singh said anything is better than nothing.
"It likely won’t be a lot, but it might pay a few bills,” he said.
Singh said he is also expecting some of the larger fencing on Gerald St to be taken away in the coming weeks.
“That should open things up a bit.”
On the other side of the road, Cottage Cafe owner Surekha Pudi thought the rate relief was going to be small compared to their losses.
Pudi estimated she was down about $50,000 in revenue compared to the same time 12 months ago.
Her landlord, who did not want to be named, said he was planning to match the money from the council too.
He agreed with Pont, saying the system would be hard to work through.
Lincoln Pharmacy owner Ceri Benger described the system as “messy”.
Benger said everything helps, but he did not think it would make a huge difference.
The rates remission comes after the council pushed out the completion for stage one of the project by two months because of weather delays, expected further delays over winter and extra stormwater work.
It is now anticipated the work will finish at the end of September.
Despite the delays, Pont said he is still on schedule to start work on stage one of his development in June.
To keep the Gerald St roadworks on track, work on Saturday is expected to be regular. From Sunday, there will also be overnight works for about a week while new streetlights along Gerald St, between Kildare Tce and West Belt, are installed.
Work will happen from 7pm to 7am with no work on Friday or Saturday nights.
