Editorial: Battling the business bypass

The Bell Block shopping centre was always going to suffer once the $21 million bypass opened.

Yesterday's results from a snap survey among businesses on the old main highway were dismal but predictable. It mirrors the downturn in trade all commercial areas go through whenever traffic is diverted from an arterial route that passes through a town.

There are, however, factors that should help Bell Block weather this roadway rupture. Not the least will be the ability of those business owners to rethink their strategy. They all knew it was coming but until now there has been little need to actively seek customers. The steady stream of traffic flowing in both directions always assured a healthy clientele, particularly for the local petrol station and food retailing outlets.

Our survey revealed that flow has been severely stemmed in some instances, particularly the Four Square Shop whose owner, Major Singh, reported a 50 per cent slump in trade. There is sympathy for him and others who have suffered, but there will be no going back. The bypass is here to stay and Transit won't reopen the old highway at Egmont Rd to Bell Block-bound traffic as business owners want.

The challenge now is how to attract and cash in on workers from the booming industrial district and the increasing number of local people setting up home in Bell Block. There is plenty of evidence of both.

Since the 2006-07 financial year 257 new sections have been developed and sold there and about 70 per cent of those have already been built on. Those figures should give heart.

There are only two shopping areas in Bell Block; one is the bypass-affected township cluster of shops and the other is on Parklands Ave in the midst of the housing area.

There may well have been some casualties by the time the ripples of the bypass finally settle but the quest for custom will be intriguing.

As with any major upheaval, one man's woes are often another man's windfall. Businesses at Waitara, who themselves were bypassed in the 1980s, can expect an increase in trade now that the quick fix for groceries and gas on the way home from work has gone. The traffic out of Waitara each day is considerable. Countdown at Waiwhakaiho might also be smiling.

And Bell Block should be wary of others looking to cash in on their misfortune. You can guarantee some petrol distributor will seek consent to build one of those all-encompassing fuel stops somewhere between New Plymouth and Waitara. That would cut even deeper as the suburb attempts to reposition itself in a vastly different business landscape.

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