Barber heads off to new premises
Street ‘upgrade’ forces move
A Palmerston North business owner is hoping for success in a new location after he says controversial changes to the road layout outside his shop forced him to move.
Tammam Tamim owns Anchor Barbershop, which, until last month, was on Featherston St, but he says he lost business and had to shift after the Palmerston North City Council redesigned the road.
The Featherston St redesign has divided opinion, with cycle lanes and new bus stops installed along a section of the road either side of Rangitīkei St.
The council says it consulted with the people affected, including businesses.
But Tamim called the new road layout “a disaster”. He said he “100%” lost business due to the changes and lost two staff members because the number of customers dropped. “I can’t survive.”
After he spoke to media in April about how his business had been affected, he said he was approached by his new landlord and offered a site on Ferguson St near Princess St, which was bigger and had off-street parking.
One of the problems at Featherston St was the two car parks in front of his shop were removed and a new one installed between the cycle lane and the road.
“Who’s going to park his car in that Formula 1 car park?”
He said some customers stopped going because the road changes made it too hard to get to the shop. One customer had parked outside the shop but it was unsafe for her to get out of her car or get her child out of the back seat so they left, he said.
Tamim said the council had been good at communicating changes, but did not listen to feedback.
“At the end of the day, they had a plan and they did it.”
But the council’s chief infrastructure officer Chris Dyhrberg said the council made every effort to ensure the redesign met the whole community’s needs. He said since 2022, the council had worked with people who used the street and went through a comprehensive feedback process, meeting with more than 150 organisations to discuss their needs and concerns.
Representatives from these groups were invited to develop the new design.
“Throughout the design phase, we paid particular attention to the needs of businesses, especially regarding parking.
“While we were able to find parking solutions for most businesses, we acknowledge that in a few instances, space limitations on Featherston St prevented us from accommodating all parking requests.”
In the area outside Tamim’s shop, one parking space was removed so the pedestrian crossing outside Central Normal School could be raised and to maintain a safe line of sight for cars at the Campbell St intersection.
The council worked with businesses to introduce time restrictions on nearby side streets, Dyhrberg said, which parking surveys showed were underutilised.
“This helped to offset the number of spaces lost on Featherston St and ensure convenient parking remained available within 50 metres of most shops.”
Dyhrberg said the council had been open to discussing matters and was committed to finding solutions that balanced the needs of all road users and businesses.
“We believe the co-design process, which included input from a wide range of stakeholders, has resulted in a street design that accommodates all road users in our community.”
Despite the changes, Tamim said he was positive about the future.
“I believe in my loyal clients, they are just beautiful, but the thing I’m having massive concerns about is whether it’s going to happen again.
“I’m tired of moving.”
Tamim had tried running barber shops in Shannon and Bulls, which hadn’t worked, but had recently opened another store in Palmerston North on Albert St.