Engagement seeking Aucklanders' views on whether or not to allow more shops to open on Easter Sunday has closed and council staff are analysing feedback.
Feedback from the range of engagement initiatives will be reported to the August meeting of the governing body where a decision will be made on whether to create a policy on Easter Sunday trading or to leave things as they are.
Why did the council seek feedback on Easter Sunday trading?
Currently, only some shops, like service stations, dairies, pharmacies and food outlets, are allowed to open on Easter Sunday. Supermarkets and general retailers must remain closed.
A recent law change means Auckland Council can decide whether or not to allow more shops to open on Easter Sunday. If the council decides to propose a policy to allow more Easter Sunday trading, Aucklanders will be consulted further on this later in the year. If a policy is adopted it would be in place by Easter 2018.
The council wants to make sure it strikes the right balance between opportunities for additional income for businesses and workers, and opportunities for people to spend time on other recreational and leisure activities.
Engagement included an online feedback form; a representative survey of 1600 individuals; intercept surveys; key informant interviews with unions, business organisations, Māori and Pacific stakeholders, faith groups, ethnic organisations and youth.
Preliminary results
Preliminary results from the representative survey and Shape Auckland online feedback have been provided to local boards. This is to help inform the boards’ input into the governing body decision on whether to create a policy on Easter Sunday trading.
The representative survey, conducted by Colmar Brunton, is a statistically based and representative sample of Aucklanders (including ethnic groups and young people). This survey can be extrapolated to the wider Auckland population.
The Shape Auckland online feedback form provided an opportunity for all Aucklanders to have their say and is self-selecting. It is not intended to be a representative view that can be extrapolated to the wider Auckland population.
Manager Social Policy and Bylaws Michael Sinclair notes that the results from these two sources do differ.
"The representative survey shows 42 per cent in favour of the status quo and 55 percent in favour of expanding Easter Sunday trading.
“The Shape Auckland self-selecting survey shows 68 per cent in favour of the status quo and 31 percent in favour of expanding Easter Sunday trading,” says Mr Sinclair.
“These preliminary results have been provided to local board members to give them an initial snapshot of what Aucklanders think and help shape each boards input.
“Caution must also be applied in drawing final conclusions from the initial results from these two surveys as more analysis is still to come,” he says.
Full analysis of the Colmar Brunton Survey and Shape Auckland online feedback form, together with analysis of feedback from the interviews and workshops will be included in the August report to the governing body.
