Infrastructure Projects Can Be Fatal to Small Business
I am very much in favour of the infrastructure projects which will help Tauranga move forward and deliver benefits for all the residents of the city. During this election there has been much debate over the spend on infrastructure, but I haven’t heard anyone discuss the fallout for the small business owner.
Cameron Road Stage One, a project designed to fix our aging sewer & water piping and align Cameron Road North for the intensification to come, was the first taste of how a badly managed project can destroy businesses. Businesses from Harrington Street to 17th Avenue took the financial brunt of delays, poor planning and supervision that wasn’t designed to help them through the chaos.
With this project behind us it is timely to work out how it could have been done better.
Tauranga is not alone in these attacks on small business – Auckland’s CBD has been suffering through the City Rail Link project since 2017 with the end still a long way off. The result of a lot of lobbying in Auckland was the setting up of a hardship fund to help businesses that had already been taken to the wall – too little too late.
Cameron Road Stage One is complete, but Council Infrastructure Projects are still hurting our businesses right now. I visited Miss Gee’s Bar & Eatery during the week to see how they were faring during the current park upgrade on the Strand. After sidling down the dark alleyway, I had lunch and a chat with the owner, Ashleigh. Had the council done better by her business? Not really, it seems – although there was consultation it seemed very much a ‘box ticking exercise’. What was the compensation for placing this business in isolation for the better part of nine months? A small sign on the hording that currently imprisons the business. Sadly, it’s very difficult to see that her great business is even there.
I believe we can do better – between TCC and Central Government (who seem to want to be involved more in local affairs, having driven a fair percentage of the infrastructure we are undertaking), packages designed to keep affected businesses on an even keel could be developed.
Step One - An immediate rates holiday from the day a project starts until it is fully finished from Tauranga City and BOP Regional Councils.
Step Two - Central Government reinventing Covid Wage Subsidies into Infrastructure Balancing Subsidies. This would mean businesses being able to keep staff employed. Obviously as taxpayers we would expect much more stringent house-keeping around paying out these subsidies, but at least when the work is done there will still be people employed and paying tax.
Step Three - A fund to market and promote the affected businesses for the duration of the work. This would be funded through a forced budget item, which the council would ensure that Contractors allow for and contribute for every project. Once the fund has been established the businesses themselves will decide on the specifics of the spend.
We all know that Miss Gees will be better off when the work is done and the new walk through is unveiled, but should Ashleigh have to go through the financial and emotional stress to get to that point, with little or no compensation?
I have used Miss Gees as my example here, but coming to a road near you is more infrastructure turmoil – Turret Road / 15th Avenue and Cameron Stage Two are on the horizon and it would be great if we can give the local businesses some comfort that we won’t forget them – Three Steps that show the businesses that they won’t be suffering so that all residents can benefit.
