Businesses share space, not views

June 17, 2016

Businesses share space, not views

O’Connell Street’s shared space. Photo: Laura Tupou

Nearly two years after the completion of a shared street conversion in central Auckland, local businesses have mixed views on its benefits.

The O’Connell St upgrade was a result of the Auckland Council’s City Centre Masterplan in 2012 where a 20-year vision was outlined.

According to the council’s website, one of the five aims of the design was to “support businesses and residents by providing more space for outdoor activities”.

Retailers located on the street agreed they had seen increased foot traffic, but some said this had not offset lost profits during the construction period.

The upgrade took five months and was completed in August 2014.

Sonya Lee, an employee at Citi Flora, said the business is still struggling from the 2014 disruption. She said business slumped during the construction period and there was no financial relief from the council or their landlord.

“It’s a little bit okay [now], maybe next year will be okay.”

The owner of Jason Books, Maud Cahill, also felt the pinch. “If my landlord didn’t give me a little bit of a concession, that six months could have put me out of business. Small businesses have a very small margin to work on so there’s only a small difference between breaking even and not.”

Ms Cahill also thinks the parking rules on O’Connell St are unclear, thanks to the deliberate lack of signage, but overall she is in favour of the conversion.

“There seem to be a lot more people whose destination is O’Connell St . . . It’s a lot nicer place to be,” said Ms Cahill.

Paul Bartolo, owner of Bespoke Barbers, joined the street after the conversion and has been pleased with the feel of the street.

“Part of the influence of us coming to the street was actually the street change. [People] might be in a hurry but they take the time out.

“The good thing about Auckland at the moment is if you embrace it, it’s growing and you can grow with it.”

Bohemein Fresh Chocolates store manager, Jacob Vou, said he had even seen an increase in patronage since they set up in the community in October last year.

“At the beginning it was quite slow because people didn’t know about [our business] but the word is starting to spread so there are more customers coming in now.”

Martina Lutz, owner of Wine Chambers Restaurant, has been on O’Connell St for 16 years. She is very passionate about the success of the street, but would like to see it completely pedestrianised.

“We have seen far more foot traffic than before, but because the cars are still racing through we don’t have as much foot traffic as we would like to see,” said Ms Lutz.

“It’s not as relaxing of course when people want to sit outside [because] they have the car noise.”

Ms Lutz said the construction period didn’t affect their business “too much” because their main entrance is on Shortland St.