Rotorua's thriving night market back in 2014. Photo / Ben Fraser
An original organiser of the Rotorua Night Market has slammed a “short-sighted” decision to trial moving it to Kuirau Park.
However, Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said an alternative solution was needed to reduce the weekly event’s running costs.
The 15-year-old event has been held on Thursdays on Tūtānekai St in the heart of Rotorua’s CBD, offering food trucks, boutique shopping and musical entertainment.
Last week, Rotorua Lakes Council announced the market was shifting on a trial basis.
In a press release, the council said a location switch could cut the current market’s annual cost of $200,000, allow for earlier summer trading and mitigate health and safety concerns.
Earlier proposals estimated the trial move could save $25,000 in traffic management costs. Closing in winter could save $100,000.
In June, an alleged hit-and-run near the night market left a woman with serious injuries.
The council was also considering having the market run by “another operator” in the future.
Rotorua hospitality stalwart Reg Hennessy said the decision was “beyond common sense”.
The owner of Hennessy’s Irish Bar on Tūtānekai St was part of the group who initially pushed for the night market.
While he knew a new location was being investigated, he was “disappointed” to learn of the council’s selection by email, the day before the public announcement.
“It shows no empathy for the CBD or small businesses that have struggled for years,” he said.
He also criticised the timing.
“We are starting to see the green shoots of tourists coming back,” he said.
“It would really boom this summer in the middle of town and then they take it off us. It’s crazy.”
Hennessy said he had previously lobbied for the council to stop running the market over winter and use fewer staff for the set-up and break-down to save costs.
In his opinion it was “laziness by the bureaucracy of the council”.
He suggested the council wanted to eventually “palm” off operating the market.
Sarah Little, owner of Haupapa St restaurant Sabroso, was also an original night market supporter.
Both were disappointed the council appeared to have gone against public wishes. They also believed there was a lack of scrutiny from elected officials.
“There was a consultation on this process and the numbers are very, very clear,” said Little.
“Respondents did not want that market to be moved.”
Only 11% of respondents who submitted to Rotorua’s 2025-26 Annual Plan supported a move to a different location, while 33% wanted no changes.
Stallholder Sahar Basir submitted that many vendors were upset by the then-proposed changes as shortening it would result in job losses, Tūtānekai St had good foot traffic, and a new operator may charge vendors more.
Little told Local Democracy Reporting she questioned why the council bothered getting feedback if it was going to move the market anyway.
“It’s almost like treating your local ratepayers and constituents like idiots.
“Even after our local representatives were told it would come back to the table; it never came back and all of a sudden this announcement was made.”
She was upset the council was taking away “the one thing that brings a buzz to the heart of the city”, and backed a winter closure.
“I don’t think moving it is the solution,” she said. “I think creating more efficiency around the way it’s run is. Take this and make it better.”
Tapsell said she appreciated the concerns of those impacted but stressed the move was a trial to “see how things go”.
She said something needed to be done to reduce the burden on ratepayers, and she had been “surprised” to learn the market costs $200,000 a year to run.
Traffic management was the cost driver at the current location. When proposals were presented at a council meeting in May, it was estimated relocating could save around $25,000 in this area.
Savings from a winter closure were estimated at about $100,000 a year.
Tapsell said the council remained “open-minded” to closing in winter, depending on feedback from the trial period.
She hoped residents could give the trial location a chance.
“We’ve seen the Saturday markets work really well there and there’s a significant amount of parking, so it won’t be as disruptive, and [it’s] safer,” she said.
“The only intention of change is to ensure that the night market can continue to grow and be even bigger and better in a place that’s most appropriate and affordable.”
The first market at Kuirau Park was scheduled for this week but was cancelled due to weather concerns.
The first event at the trial location will be next Thursday.
Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in the UK for eight years.
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.