North Canterbury News: August 12, 2021

No staffing woes for NC
hospitality providers
By SHELLEY TOPP
Whilemany cafe and restaurant
owners nationwide say they are
facing staffing shortages, North
Canterbury seems to be bucking
that trend.
More than 2000 restaurants
and cafes nationwide tookpart
in the Restaurant Association of
New Zealand’sLights Out
campaignlast month to
highlight the staffing crisis and
get the Government to allow
urgent borderexemptions for
overseas workersseeking
hospitality workinNew
Zealand.
However, most North
Canterbury cafeand restaurant
owners contacted said they did
not haveproblems retaining or
recruiting staff.
Kaiapoi’s Coffee Culture coownerDean
Peterssaid being
part of abig franchisegroup
helped with staffing
recruitment.
‘‘We don’t have any trouble
finding staff.’’
Oxford's Cafe 51 chef/manager
Lititia Buckman had expected
difficulties recruiting staff after
the Covid­19 lockdown but that
had not occurred.
‘‘Hospitality may not be the
best payingjob to start with but
it is agreat careerchoice,
particularly for young people
because it teaches you so many
life skills and can take you
Beks Morland ... Rangiora’s
Comcol North Canterbury
hospitality course tutor.
PHOTO: SHELLEY TOPP
anywhereyou want to go,’’ she
said.
Rangiora’s Fools of Desire
Cafe co­owner Karl Horwarth
said they did not have problems
recruiting staff either,with
people regularlycallingatthe
cafe seeking hospitality work.
Whileatthe Red PostCafe in
Culverden, co­owner Carolyn
Allison said her full­time staff
had been at the cafe for along
time and she was ‘‘ fortunateto
be able to hire university
students,home for the holidays
and looking for work,tohelp out
during the busy summer
months.’’
In HanmerSprings, the
PowerhouseCafe and
Restaurant owner Mary
Holloway, who is also aHurunui
Districtcouncillor, said
hospitality was hard work,but
she did not have any problems
hiring or retainingstaff.
``If you respect your staff, pay
them welland treatthem well,
they will stay,’’ she said.
In Kaikoura, Why Not Cafe coownerPeter
Matts employs four
localwomen full­time,but hires
backpackersvisiting New
Zealand seeking seasonal work
to help out during the busier
summer months.
However, he is concerned he
may not be able to do thatthis
summer withNew Zealand’s
borders still likely to be closed
to internationaltravellers.
``Nothavingany
internationalsisabig loss.''
WhileinRangiora, Amy Grice,
part­owner of The Plough Hotel
and WinnieBagoes often has
difficultyrecruiting
experienced staff.
‘‘We are really luckytohave
an awesome corebase of fulltime
staff,but struggle to hire
new people with experience,’’
she said.
‘‘Having said that we recently
took on two inexperienced staff,
alovely school girl and adairy
farmer, and theyare both
awesome workers.’’
NEWS
North Canterbury News, August 12, 2021
5
Lifestyle blocks
miss funding
By DAVID HILL
Waimakariri Mayor Dan
Gordon is not giving up the
fighttosupport the region’s
lifestylers, in the wakeofthe
recent flood event.
Mr Gordon sayshehas
received confirmation from his
enquiry to the Prime Minister’s
office, that lifestyle blockshave
not beenincluded in the
Ministry for Primary
Industries’ flood relief
package.
He met with Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern whileshe was
in Canterbury to meetwith the
region’s Mayorsinthe weeks
following the May 31 flood.
After learning Waimakariri
had the mostlifestyle blocks in
the country, Ms Ardern agreed
to lookinto the matter.
Anumber of lifestyle blocks
suffered considerable damage
in the flood, but many
insurance policiesdonot cover
land damage.
Lifestyle properties do not
meet the criteria for funding in
MPI’s relief package.
Funding has beenmade
available to theMayoralRelief
Fund, but Mr Gordon says this
is limited.
For now aid from the
Mayoral ReliefFund will be
dispersed between lifestyle
block ownersinneed of
support, while the council
gathers more data to present to
the Prime Minister in the hope
the matter can be
reconsidered.
‘‘I have been talking to
lifestylersabout their issues, so
we can go back to the Prime
Minister,’’ Mr Gordon says.
‘‘We’reattempting to quantify
the difference between
insurance and what is
uninsured so we can make
make asubmission to the
government.
‘‘In the meantime, we have
some up withamodelofhow
we are going to disperse it
(Mayoral Fund),but it willbeto
lifestylerswho have missedout
on other funding.’’
The council’s efforts to
supportlifestylershave been
aided by having two fencing
contractors who have
negotiatedrates with the
council, whichhave been
passed on to lifestyle block
owners.
CanterburyRuralAdvisory
Group chairperson Winton
Dalley sayspartofthe problem
stems fromauthorities
struggling to distinguish
betweenproperties which are
purely lifestyle blocksand
‘‘smallproductive units’’.
Income assessmenthad been
looked at, butwas not
necessarily atrue measureof
what was goingon. ‘‘They’ve
also triedlooking at thesize of
theproperties, but that doesn’t
take into consideration the
activity which is taking place,
so it’s areal issue.’’
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