HAVE you signed the Easter Sunday trading petition?
John Thompson did on Saturday, telling the Daily Post it was a good idea for the shops to open on Easter Sunday. The Daily Post, Rotorua MP Steve Chadwick, Rotorua District Council, Retail Rotorua and the Rotorua Chamber of Commerce are
running a campaign to gather 10,000 signatures on an Easter Sunday petition. The petition mirrors Mrs Chadwick's Private Member's Bill which calls for district councils to be given discretion to allow shops to open on Easter Sunday.
Rotorua and Whakatane currently do not have an exemption to trade on Easter Sunday.
Mr Thompson said he was a Christian, but did not think shops opening compromised his religious beliefs as long as people remembered the true meaning of Easter.
"I go to church but I'd go shopping [at Easter] if the shops were open."
He didn't believe some stores should be allowed to open, while others were not.
"If they allow it for one then they should allow it for all."
Mr Thompson said he would encouraging his friends to have their say on the issue.
Mrs Chadwick will deliver the petition to Parliament, calling for district councils to be given power to consult their communities and pass their own Easter Sunday trading by-laws.
The petition closes on June 14, when Mrs Chadwick's bill is likely to be given its first reading in Parliament.
Rotorua businesses are invited to take the petition, and Skyline Skyrides and all three McDonald's outlets in Rotorua are displaying it.
