Wellington businesses affected by the Moa Point wastewater treatment plant failure can now apply for one-off grants of up to $35,000, but some owners say the eligibility criteria is too narrow and could shut out many struggling operators.
The support package would target businesses adjacent to Lyall Bay and those dependent on ocean-related trade, with a maximum total fund of $200,000 available.
Wellington Mayor Andrew Little said the grants were an acknowledgement that some businesses "do need some assistance to get through".
"For some of them they're still feeling the consequences," he said.
To be eligible, businesses must show they experienced a drop of more than 50% in revenue during February and March — the period following the discharge of untreated wastewater near Lyall Bay after the plant failure.
A sewage back-up on February 4 flooded multiple floors of the facility and caused tens of millions of litres of raw sewage to be discharged into the sea off the capital's south coast.
Surf retailer Real Surf said the incident coincided with a crucial summer trading window, but owner Roger Titcombe worried the threshold would rule out many operators who were still hit hard.
"You have to have had a loss of 50%… in February, March," he said. Asked whether his own business would meet that standard, Titcombe replied: "No… none of the businesses meet that criteria. It's just been set too high."
Applications have opened for carefully targeted support for some of those worst-affected. (Source: 1News)
Titcombe said the downturn was clear in his own numbers.
"In February we were around about $30,000 down on turnover… the month before January [was] $25,000 up," he said. "It has affected us."
At Seaview Takeaway, owner Vicky Shen said fewer people at the beach translated directly into fewer customers.
"Less people in the beach, of course, that will be less people coming to the shop," she said. "On that time was empty — like the beach is empty."
While Shen said any support would help heading into the colder months, Titcombe said the scale of the grant still wouldn't fully cover the impact of losing a peak month.
"Well it isn't enough. That's for sure," he added.
"But… any reasonable contribution [would be] enough to get us through."
Shen agreed the funding could ease pressure over winter.
"No matter what, a little bit still help for the bill to pay in the winter time… without too much stress," she said.
Mayor says there was 'some discretion' at the margins
Little said the criteria was designed to ensure help goes to those most in need — and those without other back-up options.
"It is about making sure that the assistance goes to where it's needed," he said.
"If you are a franchisee and you've got your parent organisation [that] can actually help out then you should go there."
However, he signalled there may be flexibility for borderline cases.
"There is some discretion at the margins for myself and the Chief Executive of the Council to have a look at that," he said.
As well as the more-than-50% revenue drop across February and March, businesses must also be locally owned, non-franchised, employ fewer than 20 staff, and have been operating for at least 12 months.
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