A peaceful protest outside the dairy is now being planned on Friday afternoon with local politicians attending.
Concerned parent Sukhdeep Singh Khaira said he organised the event to show the community does not support an SVR being established near the school.
“Having a vape store next to school will have a huge impact on community and kids health and wellbeing,” Khaira said.
He said his son, turning eight this year, had told him he had seen other youth vaping outside his school.
“The community has looked after [the dairy owner] for many years, so I think it is his responsibility to look after the people who have supported him for years. It goes both ways.”
Lorck said in a statement that a re-elected Labour Government would scrap the existing licensing system, which meant that every SVR would have to reapply under a new regime capping the total number of stores to 600 nationwide and disallowing any within 300m of a school.
“My message is clear, if we are re-elected the Government, this vape shop will be gone - it is an absolute disgrace that the owner thinks, despite him knowing this, he still wants to go ahead,” Lorck said.
She said last month that approval for the SVR was “not going to happen” as she believed it did not comply with current legislation.
The Foodstore, whose director is listed in public documents as Karanvir Singh, said in a written statement that Riceman had suggested he open a coffee shop in the new space instead, but he said this was not viable without a qualified barista.
“I will give this [community] two weeks to find me [a] worker for a coffee shop and fund the money to buy [a] coffee machine and all the plumbing work we need for this coffee shop,” he said.
“If I don’t hear from anyone, we will open the vape shop soon.”
Singh had also told Lorck that if the community and local politicians were worried, they could refund them the $40,000 they spent building the SVR and they would not go ahead with it.
He said nothing the store had done was against the law and he felt local politicians were making a point of targeting his store because of the upcoming election.
“[Lorck] needs to do some research before [commenting] on anything seriously,” he said.
He said he was concerned that he could be banned from selling vapes in the future, but he said it would be fair if it was a total blanket ban.
“I think no one should have vapes or smokes, what [logic is there] that [the] entire [country] only [has] 600 stores? If it’s bad why have it at all?”
Singh said Friday’s protest should be protesting outside Parliament instead of his store, as that was where the laws were decided.
Catherine Wedd, the National Tukituki candidate, said it was unacceptable to have a vape store expansion so close to a school.
“Labour’s response to vaping has been extremely late and this Raureka vape situation is a result of Labour’s soft, slow response to a vaping crisis,” Wedd said.
“National thinks we’ve had our vaping settings wrong for a while now and has been advocating for tougher regulations.”
Hastings mayor Sandra Hazlehurst confirmed she would attend Friday’s protest and provided a copy of a letter she sent to Te Whatu Ora Smokefree Team Leader Antonio Fasso after learning the application had been granted.
“This approval appears to have been given despite assurances given to myself and the community that it would not be issued, and despite it being located just 50 metres away from the front gate of Raureka School on Gordon Road,” she wrote.
“It is highly concerning that vapes will be sold so close to the school, with an entryway into the vape store directly from the roadside.”
She called for an “urgent and fast investigation and intervention to rescind the vape retail license”.
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
