Agenda of Hearings Committee - 13 November 2017

Hearings Committee

13 November 2017

Summary of submissions for Easter Sunday Trading Policy

Department: Community and Planning

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 This report presents a summary of the 181 submissions received on a proposed Dunedin City Council (DCC) Easter Sunday Trading Policy. This includes 176 submissions received during the formal consultation period of 4 September - 4 October 2017 and five late submissions which were received after 4 October.

2 Of the 181 submissions, 54 percent selected option three, not allowing shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays; 44 percent chose option one, to allow all shops to open on Easter Sundays; and two percent selected option two, to allow shops within certain defined geographic areas of the DCC district to open. One submitter did not select any option but asked to be heard.

3 Thirty three of the submitters have requested to be heard.

RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Subcommittee:

a) Accepts the five late submissions;

b) Considers the summary of submissions as it deliberates on a Dunedin City Council Easter Sunday Trading Policy;

c) Recommends to Council whether to adopt the Easter Sunday Trading Policy as proposed [or amended].

BACKGROUND

4 The Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 (the Act) was amended in 2016 to enable territorial authorities to decide whether retailers in their districts can open on Easter Sunday. Under the change territorial authorities can now create local policies to allow shop trading across their entire district or in limited areas on Easter Sunday.

5 Without a policy, current restrictions apply in that on Easter Sunday only pharmacies, restaurants, souvenir shops and garden centres are able to trade. Licensed premises (including restaurants) are also able to trade, however they are subject to restrictions imposed by the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act limiting the sale of alcohol to people present on premises for the purpose of dining.

6 Restrictions already in place pursuant to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 are not affected by such a policy.

7 The Act acknowledges that Easter Sunday continues to be a day of significance across New Zealand and that some people would rather not work on this day. Shop employees are able to refuse to work on Easter Sunday and employers must not compel or treat shop employees adversely if they refuse to work on Easter Sunday.

8 The introduction of an Easter Sunday Trading Policy does not compel businesses to open on Easter Sunday however it gives them the option to trade should they wish to do so.

9 Mandatory opening provisions in leases (e.g. in malls) do not apply to Easter Sunday.

10 The Otago Chamber of Commerce asked the Council to consider the introduction of an Easter Sunday Trading Policy. Some pre engagement consultation was carried out in order to ascertain the issues for consideration should the Council decide to proceed. The special consultative procedure was then used to consult with the public.

11 Issues raised in the pre engagement consultation included:

· Impact on employees/families at Easter.

· Religious beliefs, Christian celebration.

· Need to protect employee's rights.

· Should not be compulsory for retailers or employees.

· Potential for tourism and associated economic benefits.

· If a policy is to be adopted it needs to be well in advance of Easter 2018.

DISCUSSION

12 This section provides a summary of results from public consultation. It also presents results of surveys carried out by two organisations and discusses which other Councils have policies.

Results of consultation

13 Consultation using the special consultative procedure ran from 4 September until 4 October 2017. There were five late submissions received after 4 October. Of the total 181 submissions, approximately 42 were from representatives of organisations. These included retail and business organisations as well as unions. The remainder were from individuals.

14 See Attachment 1 for a full summary of results.

15 The majority of submitters, 54 percent, supported option three, not allowing shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays
(current situation); 44 percent chose option one, to allow all shops to open on Easter Sundays; and two percent selected option two, to allow shops within certain defined geographic areas of the DCC district to open - see Table 1. One submitter did not select an option but asked to be heard.

Options	Number	%
1. Allow all shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays	80	44%
2. Allow shops within certain defined geographic areas of Dunedin City district to open on Easter Sunday	3	2%
3. Do not allow shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays (status quo)	97	54%
TOTAL	180	100%

Table 1: Support for options

16 The main topics commented on by those who selected option one were (in order of popularity):

· Retailers should be allowed to choose whether they trade on Easter Sundays

· Trading should not be limited by religion as not all are Christians

· Trading will improve service in Dunedin for customers including visitors and tourists

· Trading will benefit Dunedin economically and the city will be more progressive

· The three Ed Sheeran concerts are a good reason to trade on the Easter Sunday and trading will make the weekend more enjoyable and manageable

· Why is Good Friday not included?

17 Three people selected option two. They were asked where they would prefer shops to be allowed to trade. Three preferred shops in the central city area and tourist areas and one preferred all eating houses. There were two comments about balancing trading with the right for people to have days off.

18 The main topics commented on by those who selected option three were (in order of popularity):

· Guaranteed day off on Easter Sunday is important for family, community and health

· Protect retail staff who would still feel compelled to work

· Special religious day that should remain as a holiday

· People will continue to manage their shopping around the holiday

· Legally it’s a trading holiday not a public holiday: if allowed to trade people rostered on that day would not be entitled to time and a half plus a day in lieu as they would be with public holidays

· Trading would disproportionately affect low income earners and single parent families.

Organisation surveys

19 As part of their submissions, two of the organisations which selected option one, allowing all shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sunday, provided results of surveys they had conducted with their members. These were Dunedin Host and the Otago Chamber of Commerce.

20 Dunedin Host had 20 responses from members. Of these, fifteen selected option one, allowing all shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays; two selected option two, allowing shops within certain defined geographic areas of the DCC district to open on Easter Sunday; and three selected option three, not allowing shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays.

21 The Otago Chamber of Commerce had 101 responses from members. Of these, 63 selected option one, allowing all shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays; and 35 selected option three, not allowing shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays. Three were unsure.

Other councils

22 To date in New Zealand, 29 councils have adopted Easter Sunday Trading policies. South Island councils to adopt policies are Queenstown Lakes District, Central Otago District, Grey District, Westland District, Clutha District, Southland District and Kaikoura District Councils.

23 Councils who have decided not adopt Easter Sunday Trading policies include Auckland Council, Hamilton City Council and Invercargill City Council. Wellington City Council has discussed but not considered a policy and Christchurch City Council has not considered a policy. Other Councils that do not have policies are those in the Gisborne, Tasman and Nelson regions.

OPTIONS

24 There are no options with this report as its purpose is to present the results of public consultation on the Easter Sunday Trading Policy for consideration by the Bylaws Subcommittee.

NEXT STEPS

25 This summary of submissions on the Easter Sunday Trading Policy is to inform the Bylaws Subcommittee during its deliberations in November. The Bylaw Subcommittee will then report to Council in December for a decision on whether an Easter Sunday Trading Policy will be adopted in Dunedin. Easter Sunday in 2018 is on 18 April.

Signatories

Author:

Anne Gray - Policy Analyst

Authoriser:

Maria Ioannou - Corporate Policy Manager

Nicola Pinfold - Group Manager Community and Planning

Attachments

	Title	Page
a	Summary of submissions	18
b	Summary of late submissions	21

SUMMARY OF CONSIDERATIONS

Fit with purpose of Local Government

This summary report relates to consideration of providing a regulatory function.

Fit with strategic framework

	Contributes	Detracts	Not applicable
Social Wellbeing Strategy	☒	☒	☐
Economic Development Strategy	☒	☐	☐
Environment Strategy	☐	☐	☐
Arts and Culture Strategy	☐	☐	☐
3 Waters Strategy	☐	☐	☐
Spatial Plan	☐	☐	☐
Integrated Transport Strategy	☐	☐	☐
Parks and Recreation Strategy	☐	☐	☐
Other strategic projects/policies/plans	☐	☐	☐

This summary report for consideration does not contribute to the strategic framework.

Easter Sunday trading potentially contributes to the vitality and vibrancy of the city. It has potential to both contribute and detract from the standard of living and vibrant and cohesive communities priorities of the Social Wellbeing strategy.

Māori Impact Statement

This summary report for consideration has no specific implications for tangata whenua.

Sustainability

This summary report for consideration has no specific implications for sustainability.

LTP/Annual Plan / Financial Strategy /Infrastructure Strategy

There are no implications for the LTP, Annual Plan, Financial Strategy or Infrastructure Strategy.

Financial considerations

There are no financial implications.

Significance

The significance of any decision relating to an Easter Sunday Trading Policy is considered med – high in terms of the Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy with regard to community interest and involvement.

Engagement – external

This report summarises submissions made as part of a special consultative procedure on an Easter Sunday Trading Policy.

Before this consultation, informal feedback was also sought from Otago Chamber of Commerce, the People's Panel, Combined Christian Groups Ministry Support Group, The Catholic Institute, First Union and the Council of Trade Unions Otago Affiliate.

Engagement - internal

There has been no internal engagement on this summary of submissions report.

To date, input on this matter has been provided by the Enterprise Dunedin Economic Development Programme Manager; Manager Civic and Legal; Corporate Policy Group and Customer & Regulatory Services.

Risks: Legal / Health and Safety etc.

There are no identified risks.

Conflict of Interest

There is no known conflict of interest.

Community Boards

There are no specific implications for Community Boards.

Hearings Committee

13 November 2017

SUMMARY OF SUBMISSIONS – EASTER SUNDAY TRADING POLICY

Introduction

This is a summary of submissions received on a proposed Easter Sunday Trading Policy for the Dunedin City Council district. A total of 181 submissions was received, including 176 during the consultation period (4 September – 4 October 2017) and five late submissions. Approximately 42 submissions were from organisation such as retails, businesses and unions and the remainder were from individuals.

Support for options

The majority of submitters, 54 percent, supported option three, not allowing shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays (current situation); 44 percent chose option one, to allow all shops to open on Easter Sundays; and two selected option two, to allow shops within certain defined geographic areas of the DCC district to open. One respondent did not select any option. Table 1 shows the support for each of the options by number and percentage of respondents.

Table 1: Support for options

Options	Number	%
Option 1: Allow all shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays	80	44%
Option 2: Allow shops within certain defined geographic areas of Dunedin City district to open on Easter Sunday	3	2%
Option 3: Do not allow shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays (status quo)	97	54%
TOTAL	180	100%

Summary of comments for each option

Option one – allow all shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays

The main topics commented on by those who chose option one were that retailers should be allowed to choose whether they trade on Easter Sundays, and that trading should not be limited by the Christian religion. Table 2 summarises the comments by topic.

Table 2: Summary of comments for those who selected option one

Topic	Number
Should allow retailers to choose/should not be illegal to trade	22
Trading should not be limited by Christian religion/not all are Christians	17
Improved customer service for visitors and tourists	15
Economic benefits for Dunedin/Dunedin as a happening, progressive city	14
Ed Sheeran weekend is good reason to trade/will make Ed Sheeran weekend more enjoyable, manageable and better able to meet its demands	12
Acknowledge the importance of the Act not requiring people to work	8
Why not include Good Friday as well?	5
Topic	Number
Trial the policy for Ed Sheeran Easter 2018	5
Other: existing exemptions are confusing/celebrate Dunedin/New Zealand instead of religious occasions	3

Option two – allow shops within certain defined geographic areas of the DCC district to open on Easter Sunday

Option two is to allow shops within certain defined geographic areas of the DCC district to open on Easter Sunday. Those who selected option two were asked to explain where they would prefer shops to be allowed to trade. Table 3 shows these results.

Table 3: Preferred areas for Easter Sunday trading

Preferred areas	Number
Only central city/tourist areas	3
All eating houses	1

Two of those who selected option two made comments and Table 4 shows these results.

Table 4: Comments of those who selected option two

Topic	Number
People should have a few days off a year but it would be good for shops and visitors to trade	1
Allow all shops to open but staff must not be compelled to work	1

Option three – do not allow shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays

The main topics commented on by those who chose option three were that a guaranteed day off on Easter Sunday is important for family, community and health, and that retail staff who may still feel compelled to work are protected. This option is currently in place in Dunedin. Table 5 summarises the comments by topic.

Table 5: Summary of comments for those who selected option three

Topic	Number
Guaranteed day off is important for family, community, health	46
Protect retail staff who would still feel compelled to work	43
Special religious day that should remain as holiday	14
People including visitors will continue to manage their shopping around the holiday	8
Legally it’s a trading holiday; if allowed to trade, people rostered on that day would not be entitled to time and a half plus a day in lieu (as with public holiday)	4
Will disproportionately affect low income earners/single parent families	2
Other: reduce consumption of material goods/food places already open/could close for half day/current exemptions adequate	4

Organisation surveys

Two of the organisations which selected option one provided results of surveys they had conducted with their members. These were Dunedin Host and the Otago Chamber of Commerce.

Dunedin Host had 20 responses from members. Of these, fifteen selected option one, allowing all shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays; two selected option two, allowing shops within certain defined geographic areas of the DCC district to open on Easter Sunday; and three selected option three, not allowing shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays.

The Otago Chamber of Commerce had 101 responses from members. Of these, 63 selected option one, allowing all shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays; and 35 selected option three, not allowing shops within the DCC district to open on Easter Sundays. Three were unsure.

Chairperson	Andrew Whiley
	Marie Laufiso
	Damian Newell
	Kate Wilson

Author:	Jenny Lapham - Governance Support Officer
Authoriser:	Kristy Rusher - Manager Civic and Legal

	Title	Page
a	Register of Interest	5

	Title	Page
a	Speaking Schedule	10