Whanganui’s Funky Duck Cafe set to close as owner seeks answers from council

Dave Hill has amassed 5000 signatures "against the forced closure" of his establishment. Photo / Mike Tweed

The Funky Duck Cafe at Rotokawau Virginia Lake, one of Whanganui’s premier parks, is set to shut and owner Dave Hill wants answers from the district council.

He has operated the Funky Duck for nearly 10 years but the Whanganui District Council lease expires at the end of March.

Hill, as well as three other parties interested in a new 10-year lease, presented his case to the council at the end of 2023 but was turned down via email.

“At the end of all that, they said they couldn’t make up their minds and would go back to community consultations, surveys, focus groups, all that stuff,” he said.

The second call for expressions of interest ended on December 6 last year.

Hill did not apply for a new lease - “I want to hand over the keys and move on” - but a couple working at the Funky Duck was keen to take it over and keep the eight staff members, he said.

He has collected about 5000 signatures for a petition “against the forced closure” of the establishment, which he will present to the council in the coming days.

“No one from council has returned any calls,” Hill said.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful. The whole process has been a joke.”

He said he had been “messed around” by the council for five years over the lease.

Previously, Hill wanted to sell the business with a new 10-year lease attached but the council did not engage with prospective buyers.

Last year, council chief executive David Langford said selling a new lease as part of the business - “to the highest bidder” - lacked fairness and transparency.

The park was paid for by ratepayers and operating a business there was a unique opportunity, he said.

Langford told the Chronicle this week the presentations and proposals in 2023 were completely different to one other “and some were really bold”.

“They had a big, ambitious vision for the cafe and the lake,” he said.

“The council was cautious that we didn’t just jump into something without finding out what the community wanted first.”

Public feedback - 340 responses from online and intercept surveys - showed people did not want a major overhaul of the cafe but thought it could be improved, Langford said.

Extended opening hours in summer, a greater selection of food and modernisation of the building and seating spaces were some suggestions.

David Langford says community feedback showed the community did not want drastic changes at the cafe. Photo / NZME

Langford said the latest expressions of interest process had been open to any operator, including Hill.

“We have managed to whittle it down to the final two and we expect to have a preferred operator confirmed and hopefully locked in before the current lease ends.”

He said the council would support Hill in negotiations to sell cafe infrastructure, such as chattels, to the new operator.

Mayor Andrew Tripe, council staff and himself had been in regular contact with Hill and he had copies of the emails sent to Hill regarding the future of the cafe, Langford said.

“Dave has done a great service to the community.

“The Funky Duck is a great cafe and I have been there with my family plenty of times.”

Hill said Langford’s comments about the changeover were “great to hear” but questioned why it had come via the media and not from the council.

“The only contact they’ve had with me is to tell me about this latest round of advertising the lease and that it would conclude by December 6,” he said.

“We are only talking two months [until the lease ends] and, naturally, people are applying for other jobs and asking every second day if I’ve heard anything.”

He said he had already started to sell cafe equipment.

“When the place is empty, the next operator is going to have to spend about $200,000 re-equipping it.

“If someone walks in now and makes me an offer, they can have it all for a few thousand [dollars].”

Langford said the council would receive Hill’s petition “and take a good look at it”.

However, the council was not trying to “force the closure” of the cafe, he said.

“We are running a process to find an operator so it can continue.”

Mike Tweed is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.