Outdoor rent scrap with the council
The bars on the strip are refusing to pay the rent charged by the council. Antony Gough is out the front beating it up in the media at any opportunity. Here's how it works. The council charges business 30% of their indoor rent per m2 for the first 30m2 of outdoor area and then 26% for the remainder. If this dollar figure is over inflated, it is because their base rent is over inflated. Presenting this rent set down by the council, at a figure per table and chair is at best misleading. If you want to bring the figure per table and chair down then put out more tables and chairs. Christchurch doesn't actually need the outdoor seating on the strip, afterall the weather makes it unuseable for 9 months of the year.
To the bars on the strip, Just suck it up. To Mr Gough, think it through.
posted by blogette @ 8:31 AM
1 Comments:
This issue is further symptomatic of the City Councils complete lack of understanding of or regard for how people percieve the inner city. MOst consider it unattractive, expensive and difficult to get around. They are largely correct. If you didn't work there why would you ever go? I admire the owners of Euphoria for saying exactly why they are closing their inner city store. The messages reaching the media from Stephen Collins and Peter Townsend of the Chamber of Commerce could not be more plain or desperate. The Council is actively killing the city centre, inch by inch, every day and blaming others.
A visit to Wellington earlier this week was a revelation not having been there in recent years. The city streets were alive with people, cafes hummed with workers and shoppers eating and doing business - and there are small, interesting nooks and crannies everywhere. The street art was great. I was reminded of parts of inner Sydney.
Solution for Christchurch??? Begin the next election campaign now. There's only a year to go anyway. Let's work to dump all the present lot and replacdethem with fresher, younger, more business-oriented people who favour progress over Stalinist revisionism. Bob Parker or Stephen Collins or Dave Henderson for Mayor: Peri Drysdale to be City Manager. Garry's had his turn - and his legacy will be nil (except perhaps the destruction of The Strip). McTurk and her network of "move in, shake it till it bleeds, move on" cronies must be stopped before there's nothing left to save.
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