Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Bill

Motel Association of New Zealand Inc

P O Box 27 245
Wellington

Michael Baines
Chief Executive

Phone (04) 499 6415

Fax (04) 499 6416
Email motel@manz.co.nz
Introduction

We appreciate the Government’s commitment to address the issues that surround what is
one of the most powerful and costly organisations that members of the Motel Association
deal with.

It is important to remember that Local Authorities wield significant power in their communities
and can create great inequities and cost burdens on small and medium enterprises. This is
done through unintended outcomes and in many cases commercial naiveté.

By Local Body design and by market imperative, Motels are located in areas that are easy
for travellers to identify and access. This means that they are located on main roads and or
arterial roads. These are normally areas of high traffic volume; this is recognised and
catered for. Motels offer a 24 hour service and are run by small business owners who live
on-site. Typically the owner’s quarters are at the front of the property to ensure that all
guests are met and processed quickly and efficiently without disturbing any other guests.

Our issues are that Local Authorities be compelled to address commercial inequities where
they are created by the Local Authorities actions and or policies, and that the costs that they
impose on small and medium businesses are right and proper.
It is our belief that good legislation complies with four standards

1. The law must be accessible i.e. people need to be aware of it and be able to readily
obtain it.
2. The law must be understandable i.e. it is clear and precise so that anyone that reads it
understands its meaning.
3. The law must be fair; it must reflect the requirements of the community as a whole and
ensure that their needs are met.
4. Finally the law must be enforceable. Acts that cannot be, or are not, enforced are not
worth the paper they are printed on!

The Motel Association represents 1003 members in all areas of New Zealand. The Motel
Industry sells approximately 35% of the bed nights sold in New Zealand annually, making it
the largest provider of commercial accommodation in New Zealand. Our members are all
SMEs making the Association one of the largest groups representing small businesses. We
host 11,000,000 bed-nights a year with 8,000,000 being to New Zealanders and 3,000,000
being international visitors. Approximately 30% of the industry’s customers are people doing
business in the community where they stay, making Motels a very important part of the
infrastructure supporting the New Zealand regional economies.

Motel Association of New Zealand

Submissions: Local Bodies Amendment Act Page 2
Specifics

We would like to see the following addressed by the legislation;

1. That Councils alter policies where different areas of the same industry are given a cost
advantage by council actions.
2. That Councils rating policies recognise domestic rating for domestic portions of
commercial accommodation providers.
3. That Councils recognise how their actions related to Roading and service provision
can financially impact on commercial accommodation and recompense accordingly.
4. That Councils cost allocation and recovery polices are fair and reasonable.

We believe that requiring councils to take the above into consideration will go a long way in
allowing them to work with their commercial communities to provide a business friendly
environment!

Summary

Motels operate in high traffic areas for visibility, access and zoning reasons. Any disruption
to access and or the creation of adverse environmental situations does have a tremendous
impact on Moteliers.

It should also be noted that many councils in New Zealand allow forms of commercial
accommodation to operate as domestic dwellings, thus offering those businesses
tremendous cost advantages and, also, the ability to operate in buildings that would not be
considered safe for traditional commercial accommodation providers.

Councils have been given the opportunity to recover costs associated with the processing of
actions and functions that they impose. There is no mechanism to know whether these
charges are fair and reasonable or even necessary. If these processes already exist there
has been no reduction in general rates to show that these functions are no longer funded
from that source.

We would welcome the opportunity to speak to our submissions.

14 June 2010

Michael Baines
Chief Executive

Motel Association of New Zealand

Submissions: Local Bodies Amendment Act Page 3