Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Controversy over Easter trading

By Sandra Conchie and Carmen Hall
Bay of Plenty Times·
25 Mar, 2016 07:59 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

TRADING: Jane Debenham, Mount Mainstreet Association chairwoman. PHOTO/FILE

TRADING: Jane Debenham, Mount Mainstreet Association chairwoman. PHOTO/FILE

They're risking a $1000 fine but owners of Mount Maunganui businesses trading on Easter Sunday think it is worth it.

The Bay of Plenty Times Weekend conducted an unofficial random survey of a dozen businesses in Mount Maunganui who all said they would be open - especially with two cruise ships due on Easter Sunday.

Last year, the Government proposed a law change to allow councils the right to decide whether stores in their area could trade on Easter Sunday, which was now being discussed by Parliament's commerce committee.

Some retailers said there should be no trading restrictions.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Read more: Retailers favour Easter trading

One Mount retailer, who did not want to be named said she did not know of any businesses in the downtown area which would be closed.

"The place will be packed with people, including cruise ship passengers and downtown Mount Maunganui will definitely be open for business," the retailer said.

Mount Mainstreet Association chairwoman Jane Debenham said she was aware a number of retailers would be trading on Easter Sunday.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"But the association is not promoting flouting the rules.

Read more: Bay's Easter weekend guide

"It's very much up to each retailer and business owner to decide for themselves," she added.

Ms Debenham said Mount Maunganui was a beach resort which attracted a huge number of visitors over Easter weekend. Cruise ship passengers would expect to be able to browse around the shops.

She was not aware of anyone being fined for flouting the ban.

Ms Debenham said it was not a good look if most of the shops were closed and she believed it was time for the government or councils to revisit the ban on Easter Trading.

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment labour inspectorate northern manager David Milne said the ministry helped retailers in obeying with the law by providing information and advice through its website and contact centre.

Its enforcement approach included responding to complaints and follow-up action, which included seeking penalties, he said

The ministry would be responding to all complaints received over the Easter period, he said.

Retail NZ's general manager of public affairs Greg Harford earlier this month put a submission to the Government to amend the Shop Trading Hours Amendment Bill which would allow councils to pass bylaws to allow trading on Easter Sunday and give shops the green light to open right across New Zealand.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Tourism Bay of Plenty head of marketing and communications Kristin Dunne said this week that the organisation often received complaints from passengers when shops were shut, although this was the first time cruise ships would be arriving on Easter Sunday.

Closed shops definitely impacted on visitors' experiences, she said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:03 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

02 Jul 09:00 PM
live
Bay of Plenty Times

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 08:39 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

Heavy rain warnings: BoP acts like 'scoop' for wild weather

02 Jul 09:03 PM

A severe thunderstorm watch is in place for the region tonight.

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

'Game-changer': Western BoP a step closer to Govt deal unlocking housing, jobs

02 Jul 09:00 PM
Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds
live

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 08:39 PM
'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

'Scary stuff': Locals on crash corner fear it will take a death to get it fixed

02 Jul 06:06 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP