Sign of frustration: Napier retailers question council fees

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A Napier CBD business owner is frustrated at being asked to pay for a footpath sign he has displayed outside his business for the past five years. Bruce Pankhurst and Ruth Locker…

Napier business owner Bruce Pankhurst stands behind the sign he has put out near the kerb of the footpath for more than five years.

A Napier CBD business owner is frustrated at being asked to pay for a footpath sign he has displayed outside his business for the past five years.

Bruce Pankhurst and Ruth Locker own and operate Pack and Send, a courier and freight service, on Dickens St.

Every morning, the first thing they do is put their sign out on the footpath hard up against the kerb.

Pankhurst says they were surprised to receive a notice recently from Napier City Council saying they were breaching the rules by displaying the sign without a permit.

A sign is free to display in Hastings CBD, but Napier City Council requires businesses to have a licence, which costs just over $200 a year.

A Napier City Council spokesperson said footpath signage rules had been in place for a long time and applied to all CBD businesses.

“A business having displayed a sign for some time does not remove the licence requirement, but we appreciate that owners who were unaware of it need a clear explanation of what is required and why,” they said.

They said the council was required to enforce the existing requirements under the Public Places Bylaw 21.

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