A council decision on whether or not to allow Easter Sunday trading would be made after the community's views had been heard. Photo/File
A cliffhanger has been predicted on the controversial issue of whether shops should be allowed to open in Tauranga on Easter Sunday.
The council yesterday decided to simplify the options for its public consultation document and make it a straight choice between yes or no.
Councillor Gail McIntosh urged the economic development committee to drop the third option which was to allow Easter Sunday trading in specific areas of the city.
Councillor Steve Morris said splitting the city into zones of who could and who couldn't trade would be a nightmare.
Deputy mayor Kelvin Clout supported simplifying the choice but was not happy with the choice of a freshly hatched chick for the cover of the consultation document. He said it was not what Easter stood for.
Corporate and policy planner Sandra Des Forges said the choice of the cover had been discussed with the council's communications team who suggested a chick stood for new birth and new life.
Councillor Larry Baldock also questioned the cover photo but in the end neither man opted to take the issue to a vote.
Mr Baldock highlighted the result of the council's recent snapshot survey in which 49 per cent of the 5736 respondents favoured full unrestricted trading on Easter Sunday, 36 per cent opposed trading and 15 per cent backed Easter Sunday trading in specific areas.
He said it showed the community was divided on the issue because he suspected that the 15 per cent would end up supporting those who favoured keeping the day as a holiday.
The big cities of Auckland and Hamilton had wisely stayed away from allowing Easter Sunday trading after consultation showed the community was divided, he said.
Mrs McIntosh wanted all references to how other councils had voted deleted from the consultation document. "Who cares what the others have done. We are our own thinkers."'
However, she was comfortably defeated in a vote by the committee. Nearby councils who had adopted Easter Sunday trading were Rotorua, Hauraki District, Waikato District, Matamata-Piako District and Thames-Coromandel District.
A council decision on whether or not to allow Easter Sunday trading would be made after the community's views had been heard.
The council was also running a $7000 scientific telephone survey of 400 people to ascertain public opinion on the issue.
Tauranga's Easter Sunday shop trading review - Public consultation September 22 to October 22 - Council snapshot survey supported some form of trading (64 per cent) - Easter Sunday was not a public holiday - Employees not entitled to time and a-half payments or alternate paid day off