Pakawau store closure ruffles the community
From left, customers Leanne Prentice and Jo Armitage and acting manager Gaye Benjamin. Photo: Neil Wilson.
The Pakawau Camp and Store will close at the end of this month after 22 years in operation.
The owner, businessman Landon Carter, surprised the camp managers with instructions to close three weeks ago, and has withdrawn his resource consent application to build 30 apartments on site, reportedly due to the objections raised and the council planner’s recommendation that consent be denied. Mr Carter is out of the country and has not responded to questions The GB Weekly sent by email. In particular we were interested to find out whether the store could continue to operate, even if the campground was closed.
Kyle and Donna Mapley manage the camp and the store for Mr Carter.
“It’s not ideal but we don’t feel hard done by,” said Mrs Mapley. We’ve appreciated the support of the community but we understand the realities of Landon’s business.”
We went to Pakawau and asked people using the store that day how they felt about its imminent closure.
Chris Pomeroy was refuelling his Farewell Spit Nature Experience vehicle and he said he would miss having that facility, but remained upbeat about Mr Carter’s plans for the camp.
The fuel issue was also important for Sigrid Crump, a Milnthorpe resident buying diesel on her way to Farewell Spit.
“Now that I can’t get diesel in Collingwood in the weekend, I’ll have to drive into Takaka if I have to refuel to come out this way,” she said. [Ed. Miller’s Garage in Collingwood now has a 24-hour fuel facility]
Pounamu Soochoon and Flynn Nicholls were buying lollies, and Flynn was disappointed to hear that the store will soon close.
“I come here for lollies every time my Grandad brings me out to go fishing on the Coast,” said Flynn.
Jo Armitage and Leanne Prentice had walked down the beach from Totara Avenue to buy a paper and took the chance to buy a bottle of wine as well. The walk has been part of Jo’s regular routine when she visits the area. She was surprised and disappointed to hear about the imminent closure.
Gaye Benjamin, who was working at the store when The GB Weekly visited, will lose her job when it closes.
“I started working as a cleaner in the camp eleven years ago. There’s not much other work in Pakawau. It’s a shame for all the people out this way because the store isn’t just for Pakawau people. It serves a pretty big area when you think about Kaihoka, Puponga, Mangarakau and Paturau,” said Gaye.
Mr Carter bought the 1.6-hectare campground in 2006 for $2 million. His plans to develop a large-scale tourist resort on the site have subsequently attracted continued opposition, largely on the basis that the development was not in keeping with the area’s rural character, and due to a sense of loss by visitors who stay at the camp and locals who regarded it as an asset to the community.
The council-issued licence for the campground expired on June 30 and the store’s food premises licence will expire on July 31. An application to renew the campground licence had been received from Mr Carter but processing had been suspended pending clarification, council said.
Neil Wilson
