Good leadership from the Mayor

Radio NZ reports:

Wellington’s mayor admits council is partly responsible for hospitality operators struggling in the capital. …

Golding wanted council to clean up the streets, better understand the industry’s needs, make consenting and licensing easier, and ensure the capital was affordable for students.

People were choosing other cities for their studies, leaving the capital’s bar and restaurant owners in the lurch, he said.

“That’s a huge workforce for us, not to mention their disposable income when they go out at night and they spend a bit of money, that all contributes you know, but they’ve got nowhere to live.”

Golding said hospitality was let down by a series of disinterested mayors, and they were pinning their hopes on Tory Whanau.

Whanau said she heard them – as an inner-city dweller who frequented local bars and restaurants, she was the person for the job, and things would soon change.

“I do know things have been a bit tough lately and our council has a part to play in that, especially along Courtenay Place and of course Cuba [Street], where it’s becoming quite pricey to even have a bar there.”

She would push council to strip back the bureaucracy faced by bar and restaurant owners, she said.

“The biggest issue that I’m hearing from our bar owners is the licensing and consenting process, we need to make it a lot easier.

“So I’m going to work with council officers to see what we can do, make it more streamlined, make it a bit quicker, so we can get those bars up and running.”

The paperwork was just signed for a fresh council role of city manager, who would work with bars and restaurants to make consents more accessible, Whanau said.

Pleased to see this attitude from the Mayor that the Council has been part of the problem, and they need to make licensing and consenting easier. I hope she succeeds.