In the same week that the Hastings District Council was preparing to make a decision on its Easter Sunday trading policy, petitions began circulating in Napier calling for the Napier City Council to re-consider its decision to open for business on that day.
In February this year, the Napier councillors voted 6-5 to adopt a local trading policy, which would allow retailers to open on Easter Sunday if they chose to.
Recent changes to the Shop Trading Hours Act gave local councils the option to adopt such a policy, replacing existing legislation that stipulated shops must be closed on that day unless exempt.
Read more: Hastings District Council rejects move to Easter Sunday trading
Former Napier City councillor Robin Gwynn submitted against Napier adopting such a policy in January and said the problem was not so much the decision but the feeling that all the people who might have resisted such a move were not aware that the issue was up for debate in adequate time.