Businesses sceptical whether Katikati bypass will eventuate or if the town will benefit

Katch Katikati's Jacqui Knight (left), Western Bay deputy mayor Mike Williams and Katikati Community Board chairwoman Jenny Hobbs were excited at the bypass announcement. Photo/file

Some Katikati business owners are sceptical a bypass around the town will even happen and others are not convinced it will be positive move.

"We have heard it all before,"one business owner, who did not wish to be named, told the Bay of Plenty Times.

On Tuesday, the New Zealand Transport Agency announced a bypass would be added to the State Highway 2 network between Tauranga and Waihi, but details on when work would start, where it would go, and how much it would cost would not available until later this year.

Pete Renwick, owner of Hammer Hardware, said: "People don't listen. Some people say the bypass will be good for business and for the township, and maybe people who have only been lived here for six months hold that view, but lots of long-standing retailers and residents like me don't."

Mr Renwick said there were plenty of examples around the country where putting in a bypass had "buggered up" their town and killed business.

He feared that would happen to Katikati.

Peter Watkins, co-owner of Katikati Picture Framers, said if the bypass went ahead it had to be good for business as the traffic at certain times of the day was "diabolical".

"A lot of people in the township have been calling for the bypass for years. In fact, they've been talking about needing one even before we moved here nine years ago. But if Katikati actually gets the bypass as we're been promised, I'm not holding my breath," he said.

Rose Mitchell, duty manager at the Family Market, said she was not sure whether the bypass was a positive move for Katikati.

"It possibly will be but I would want to know a lot more, it's wait and see as far as I'm concerned."

Tasvir Singh, assistant duty manager at the BP petrol station, said he believed a bypass would have a detrimental impact on lots of businesses.

"I think it will be really hard if there is less traffic coming through the main street and a lot less people stopping to shop. The same thing happened in Te Puke when they got a bypass."

Long-standing Katikati resident Jenny Gawith said it was "great news" for the town and long overdue.

Mrs Gawith said she believed the promised bypass may bring other positive changes to the town.