Again we see how easy it is for Councils to destroy businesses

The Herald reports:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is keeping close tabs on the uproar into the upgrade of the Mt Albert town centre that has left a sour taste in the community. …

Turnover at many Mt Albert shops has not recovered after tumbling 50 per cent during the construction period.

“It’s a ghost town,” said Bhaidas Bhula, who has been forced to lay off two of four staff at the New North Pharmacy in the town centre.

Bhula said takings dropped 50 per cent during construction and had been tracking at those levels since the Prime Minister, Auckland Mayor Phil Goff and Dr Levy opened the $6.5 million upgrade in May.

We’ve seen in Wellington also how decisions by Councils can destroy businesses that have been operating for decades, sending their owners from being employers to unemployed.

In a recent posting on Morris’ blog, Mt Albert Business Association communications co-ordinator Dalline Leng said the upgrade is a failure and bringing some businesses close to collapse.

She spoke of tenants barely surviving, sales not meeting the costs of rent, power and wages and one business owner who revealed his total takings in one day were $10.

The community was promised great things out of the upgrade but all they got were wider footpaths, which, at the expense of parking, were not worth it, Leng said.

Some Councils deem determined to wipe out parking, as part of their anti-car bias. In doing so they wipe out businesses who rely on people being able to park near them.