Rotorua hospitality stalwart Reg Hennessy<\/a> said the decision was \u201cbeyond common sense\u201d. <\/p>\nThe owner of Hennessy\u2019s Irish Bar on T\u016bt\u0101nekai St was part of the group who initially pushed for the night market. <\/p>\n
While he knew a new location was being investigated, he was \u201cdisappointed\u201d to learn of the council\u2019s selection by email, the day before the public announcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows no empathy for the CBD or small businesses that have struggled for years,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
He also criticised the timing. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are starting to see the green shoots of tourists coming back,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt would really boom this summer in the middle of town and then they take it off us. It\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
![\"Hennessy's]()
Hennessy’s Irish Bar owner Reg Hennessy. Photo \/ Andrew Warner<\/p>\n
In his opinion it was \u201claziness by the bureaucracy of the council\u201d.<\/p>\n
He suggested the council wanted to eventually \u201cpalm\u201d off operating the market. <\/p>\n
Sarah Little, owner of Haupapa St restaurant Sabroso, was also an original night market supporter. <\/p>\n
Both were disappointed the council appeared to have gone against public wishes. They also believed there was a lack of scrutiny from elected officials. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a consultation on this process and the numbers are very, very clear,\u201d said Little. <\/p>\n
\u201cRespondents did not want that market to be moved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only 11% of respondents who submitted to Rotorua\u2019s 2025-26 Annual Plan supported a move to a different location, while 33% wanted no changes. <\/p>\n
Stallholder Sahar Basir submitted that many vendors were upset by the then-proposed changes as shortening it would result in job losses, T\u016bt\u0101nekai St had good foot traffic, and a new operator may charge vendors more.<\/p>\n
Little told Local Democracy Reporting she questioned why the council bothered getting feedback if it was going to move the market anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s almost like treating your local ratepayers and constituents like idiots.<\/p>\n
![\"Sabroso]()
Sabroso is a Latin American and Caribbean restaurant. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n
\u201cEven 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was upset the council was taking away \u201cthe one thing that brings a buzz to the heart of the city\u201d, and backed a winter closure.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think moving it is the solution,\u201d she said. \u201cI think creating more efficiency around the way it\u2019s run is. Take this and make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tapsell said she appreciated the concerns of those impacted but stressed the move was a trial to \u201csee how things go\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said something needed to be done to reduce the burden on ratepayers, and she had been \u201csurprised\u201d to learn the market costs $200,000 a year to run.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
![\"Rotorua]()
Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell. Photo \/ Andrew Warner<\/p>\n
Savings from a winter closure were estimated at about $100,000 a year. <\/p>\n
Tapsell said the council remained \u201copen-minded\u201d to closing in winter, depending on feedback from the trial period. <\/p>\n
She hoped residents could give the trial location a chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen the Saturday markets work really well there and there\u2019s a significant amount of parking, so it won\u2019t be as disruptive, and [it\u2019s] safer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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\u2019s most appropriate and affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first market at Kuirau Park was scheduled for this week but was cancelled due to weather concerns.<\/p>\n
The first event at the trial location will be next Thursday. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a press release, the council said a location switch could cut the current market\u2019s annual cost of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8172,14134,15557,39083,225,2683,2686,111,43,139,2551,69,48717,1855,8143,1327,48718,41401,8207,61,54],"class_list":{"0":"post-58641","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-backlash","9":"tag-decision","10":"tag-hospitality","11":"tag-kuirau","12":"tag-market","13":"tag-move","14":"tag-moving","15":"tag-new-zealand","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-newzealand","18":"tag-night","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-organiser","21":"tag-original","22":"tag-park","23":"tag-rotorua","24":"tag-shortsighted","25":"tag-slammed","26":"tag-sparks","27":"tag-to","28":"tag-trial"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58641","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=58641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}