Comment: Businesses, councils and Government are in this together

Matt Cowley is chief executive of the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce. Photo / File

COMMENT:
It's been tough seeing businesses during the lockdown voluntarily close or larger companies consolidate back to their original regions.

But I am impressed with the number of businesses that want to hold on while the Covid-19 hurricane passes through our economy. These business owners know how hard it was to find talented staff during the good days and they are fighting to keep them during Covid-19.

Businesses are now turning their minds to life after the lockdown. We will all need to be prepared for oscillating in and out of alert levels two and three for the next few months.

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Business will not be the same as it was before the lockdown. The key themes for businesses over the next year will be health and safety (including staff working from home), e-commerce and partnerships.

Although the first two speak for themselves, businesses will find strength where they adapt to become more accessible to customers and better manage supply chain risks, particularly from volatile overseas regions.

Singapore recently experienced a spike of new cases associated with migrant workers living in dormitories. Mayors of major US cities are already preparing for the second wave of infections during their autumn (our spring) and developing countries are yet to experience Covid-19 outbreaks.

Even if New Zealand is able to keep the number of infection cases low, our borders will likely be closed for many months. This means the economy will be relying on domestic spending, and our food and manufacturing exporters.

Although our borders are closed, now is a great time for local councils and central Government to catch up on the infrastructure deficit that has constrained the Western Bay of Plenty region.

Only a few months ago Tauranga was facing another crisis: our growing city was constrained by less than 12 months' supply of ready-to-build land.

The country's population growth has largely been based on strong overseas migration. Since it is likely that New Zealand's borders will be closed for the next year or so, councils and Government should now have breathing room to open up land and action the Urban Form and Transport Initiative (UFTI) findings.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

While these long-term infrastructure projects are being pitched to central Government for joint funding, there are also small things that councils and NZTA could do to ease the immediate pressure off the sectors that are hurting the most. These include hospitality, tourism, construction and logistics.

I have flagged a number of low-hanging-fruit opportunities with council CEOs to temporarily action until their next financial year. They have been open to dialogue, even though they too are facing large revenue deficits because of the lockdown.

For example, the hospitality sector would receive a morale boost if councils wiped the fees to occupy footpaths. It is a small cost, but a sign of good faith that we're all sharing the pain.

The construction sector would have some relief if building and resource consents were charged once the council makes a decision, instead of at first lodgement.

It seems that Bay of Plenty businesses are disadvantaged compared to other regions as our trucking companies have to factor in NZTA toll charges on our state highways.

Over the years, there have been many calls to permanently remove the tolls. It would be a big relief to small businesses to remove state highway tolls until July 1 next year to support the region's economic recovery.

The logistics industry is highly competitive and trucking companies will likely pass the cost savings onto their customers. This will immediately inject cash into local businesses while the councils and Government prepare to action the bigger infrastructure projects.

NZTA received strong revenue from the tolls when it put the prices up soon after they inherited Route K from Tauranga City Council. NZTA can afford to take a mortgage holiday for a year – just as some businesses are forced to do – as the tolls will likely be back to earning strong revenue as our economy recovers.

These opportunities are not big costs for businesses, but they are also not large sums of money for councils or NZTA. A temporary revenue holiday for councils and NZTA would provide action to the words that "we're all in this together".

- Matt Cowley is chief executive of the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce.