\u201cIt\u2019s just heartbreaking. I feel like I\u2019m losing a child, to be honest, it\u2019s just been my baby for so long,\u201d Suzi said.<\/p>\n
The business had survived a global pandemic, a recession and roadworks that effectively left them an island, with the cafe and gallery entrance hidden behind fences, trucks and diggers.<\/p>\n
Bridge St and Haven Rd, either side of the business, have been closed for months while the roads are ripped up and pipes replaced, with customers having to walk down narrow, uneven gravel paths between temporary fences to reach the business.<\/p>\n
The gallery represented about 60 artists, most of them from Nelson and Tasman, and it had taken on more after the Suter Art Gallery decided to stop stocking the work of around 40 local artists, following advice from external retail specialists.<\/p>\n
Since announcing the closure on social media, the couple had received hundreds of comments in support.<\/p>\n
The cafe was full on Friday morning when RNZ visited. Within an hour, it had made as much money as it had over the previous two days combined.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew there would be strong support, but not the way it\u2019s been with the messages, with the people coming in,\u201d Ant said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLove and compassion and heart will beat greed any day.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Nelson City Council told the couple they would be the \u201cmost impacted business\u201d given their proximity to the roadworks, but there had been \u201czero talk of compensation or help in any way\u201d, except to be asked whether they had two hard years in them until the upgrade was complete.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll be wonderful for someone else, but it won\u2019t be us,\u201d Ant said.<\/p>\n
Council agrees to defer rates if landlords come to the party<\/p>\n
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith previously said he had met with a number of \u201cvery distressed\u201d business owners who were feeling the pressure of the ongoing roadworks.<\/p>\n
Staff had gone to \u201ctremendous effort\u201d to try to minimise disruption in the city by promoting businesses, he said.<\/p>\n
Smith acknowledged the work was \u201cincredibly disruptive\u201d but said it was essential to renew and upgrade infrastructure that, in some places, was more than 100 years old.<\/p>\n
Once complete, Bridge St was tipped to be a \u201cpeople-focused corridor\u201d with utility services capable of supporting inner city development.<\/p>\n
At a council meeting on Thursday, elected members agreed to allow affected businesses to defer rates from the current year, with repayments split over the next three years, if landlords agreed to provide the equivalent financial relief to the tenant.<\/p>\n
Nelson Tasman Chamber of Commerce chairwoman Venus Guy said it was disappointing to see the closure of long-standing local businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cRed Gallery has been part of our city centre, and our thoughts are with the owners and everyone affected by this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said while the Bridge to Better project was an important investment in Nelson\u2019s future, the major infrastructure work placed pressures on businesses during construction.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is essential that we continue working together to minimise disruption, support affected businesses and remind our community that our city centre remains open for business.\u201d<\/p>\n
Central city businesses feeling the hurt<\/p>\n
Longstanding cafe and food store Prego Mediterranean Foods & Comida Cafe shut its doors in June, and the owners said at the time the ongoing roadworks were a factor in its closure.<\/p>\n
Further down Bridge St, Pizzeria Bella owner Yusef Corten said he thought more could be done to support businesses affected by the infrastructure works.<\/p>\n
At lunchtime on Friday, his restaurant was empty and the noise of roadworks outside made it hard to be heard when speaking.<\/p>\n
He had organised a meeting with about 30 Bridge St business owners who were also struggling around two months ago. <\/p>\n
He said the rates deferral scheme made little difference. It gave relief of about $80 per month, but would have to be paid back in the years to come.<\/p>\n
Corten, who had owned and operated hospitality businesses in Nelson for more than a decade, said he bought Pizzeria Bella a year ago. He started out with nine employees, but was now down to three. Only he and his son were working fulltime and debt kept rising.<\/p>\n
Pizzeria Bella\u2019s revenue was down 80% since the roadworks began. On Tuesday, Corten made $300 between the lunch and dinner services. His accountant had told him he needed turnover of $2000 a day to survive.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day I am more negative, more negative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Corten said two businesses had closed and it was possible more would follow.<\/p>\n
Once the work was finished, the council would have a beautiful road but an empty street, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s just heartbreaking. I feel like I\u2019m losing a child, to be honest, it\u2019s just been my baby…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,95,14645,1882,651,13731,679,10054,91,111,43,139,69,39574,67902,61,29387],"class_list":["post-562518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-and","tag-beloved","tag-cafe","tag-close","tag-dispute","tag-forced","tag-landlord","tag-nelson","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-roadworks","tag-samantha","tag-to","tag-woes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}