It’s been the worst of times for most of the businesses serving the Oriental Bay area.
As Covid continues to surge and wane, cafes, shops and hairdressers have struggled to survive, not helped by Wellington City Council, who in a stroke of baffling bureaucratic bullying, have instructed their ‘Pavement Protection Patrol’ to order cafes and restaurants to remove outdoor dining tables from pavements.
Small Acorns and Squirrel Cafe
Amanda Holland, who for 30 years has run her home decor business, Small Acorns, and more recently, the adjacent Squirrel Cafe on Blair St, was shocked when a representative of the Pavement Protection Patrol approached her before Christmas 2021 and ordered her to remove her four outdoor tables. If she refused, she was told the tables and chairs would be confiscated.
‘Are you joking’ Amanda replied. ‘Surely the council has got better things to do?’
Their rationale, according to the council officer from The Pavement Protection Patrol was ‘safety’. Yet Blair Street is almost exclusively pedestrian. ‘People are being encouraged to sit outside under Covid, because it is safer than indoors.’ says Amanda. ‘It just doesn’t make sense.’
This Pythonesque diktat from our City Council comes on top of what is feeling like an endless struggle businesses face under the severe limitations imposed by Covid.
We are waiting for clarity from the WCC over its reasons for removing the tables from Squirrel Cafe.
Kaffee Eis
The very popular Kaffee Eis on Oriental Parade closed its doors recently, following nine months of having a Council-approved skip parked outside the cafe entrance.
‘Council does everything they possibly can to screw the entire business community’, says Kaffee Eis owner Karl Tiefenbacher. ‘Having a skip parked in front of our cafe for nine months was the last straw. People could no longer pull up outside and pop in to get a coffee or an ice-cream. That decimated our business.’
Karl, who has had to close two of his five cafes because of Covid, recently attended a meeting arranged by WCC. The purpose was to hear business leaders voice their concerns and get some clarification about the commercial implications of Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) and WCC’s plans for the inner city.
‘The whole thing was an absolute disgrace. The LGWM representative had no answer for any of the questions raised by the business community. Neither did Mayor Foster.
‘They showed us a map of the plans for The Golden Mile and Courtenay Place. But none of them had the faintest clue where the loading bays would be along Courtenay Place.’
Karl describes the council’s plans for the inner city as ‘diabolical’ for business owners.
‘We’ve just managed to keep our heads above water under Covid, now the council is throwing every obstacle they can at us to shut us down.’
Aye
However, a young Argentinian couple, Sebastian Facundo Ferrario and his wife Ayelen, have taken over the former Kaffee Eis site on Oriental Parade and are confident they can make a go of it.
Aye serves scrumptious traditional Argentinian empanadas and the famous Argentinian desserts, known as alfajores.
‘Everything is produced from scratch, using our secret ingredients,’ says Sebastian.
The 80-hour weeks which involve doing all the baking in the very early hours at their Kilbirnie premises, as well as running their three cafes make for an exhausting day.
‘I knew it would be very tough opening Aye in the middle of an epidemic, and at first things were slow,’ says Sebastian.
‘It wasn’t the summer we had hoped for, but we are building up our regulars and word is getting around. Business is now steady, we’re here for the long haul!’
Shine
Hairdresser April Scott has been styling and cutting hair on Oriental Parade for almost 25 years, first as a junior, before setting up her own salon, Shine.
‘As well as looking after my staff, under Covid it’s even more important for people to feel pampered and special when they come here. As well of course, as making them look fabulous!’ says April.
‘At times it was very distressing’, she says. She often asked herself ‘where’s this going, where will it end? I’ll never make up what we’ve lost.’
She was even warned about the possibility of looting under lockdown, so did a full clean out of all her stock.
‘Despite all that stress, you have to make the salon experience special for everyone who comes in that door. Behind that mask, I’ll have rivers of sweat rolling down my face. But I’m still laughing!’
While most of the customers are wonderfully loyal and supportive, Small Acorns owner Amanda Holland says some are not.
Freight and the supply chain problems are out of her control.
‘I can’t help it if my latest shipment is held up in Singapore for weeks on end, and while most people get that, some don’t, and have been very rude and unpleasant. I can do without that.
‘Despite a malaise that seems to have crept in and that constant anxiety of thinking, ‘what next?’, the community spirit and support have all been amazing. That’s what makes me get out there every day to be with my staff and customers.’
— Kevin Isherwood, Bay View Online newsletter, May 2022