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Speaker 1: Now to the drama about the Elfresco dining. You'll have

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Speaker 1: caught up on this happening in total, also happening in

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Speaker 1: Queenstown in Totinger. The plan is to charge businesses that

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Speaker 1: use street space for dining up to one hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty dollars a year per square meter that they use.

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Speaker 1: Local businesses are not happy with this, so the council

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Speaker 1: has now made a decision to give all businesses a

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Speaker 1: one hundred percent discount on those fees until mid next year.

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Speaker 1: Mahir Drysdale is the mayor of toting a Home. Aham

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Speaker 1: is giving them a discount of like a complete one

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Speaker 1: hundred percent discount, not an admission that you guys charging

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Speaker 1: them this much is a bit of a punish.

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Speaker 2: No, I think it's it's a couple of reasons. So

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Speaker 2: these these fees came in on the first of July,

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Speaker 2: obviously before we were elected. We understand how tough it

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Speaker 2: is in the environment out there right now, you know,

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Speaker 2: in the CBD where we're trying to make it more vibrant,

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Speaker 2: you know, which has meant a lot of our hospitality

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Speaker 2: businesses have had to suffer through, you know, construction works

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Speaker 2: all around them, and so you know, we want to

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Speaker 2: try to give them a little bit of a hand up.

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Speaker 2: You know, we do want to put these these agreements

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Speaker 2: in place, but we're saying is we're not going to

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Speaker 2: charge you and until at least next year, and that

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Speaker 2: will give us an opportunity to get out understand you know,

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Speaker 2: what the charges should be and have them consult on

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Speaker 2: on those charges.

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Speaker 1: So that does that That sounds to me like you

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Speaker 1: were prepared to have another look at it and maybe

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Speaker 1: bring those charges down. Is that right?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, we we haven't set these charges. You know,

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Speaker 2: this was inherited by us, so yeah, we'll absolutely have

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Speaker 2: a look obviously, you know, we we want these businesses

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Speaker 2: to be around because that drives the vibrancy of our city.

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Speaker 2: So you know, we we want to work with for

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Speaker 2: sector and make sure that that you know, we're getting

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Speaker 2: a return for for them using our space, but we're

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Speaker 2: also supporting them and that's that's very much. You know,

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Speaker 2: what our our counsel wants to be is transparent in

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Speaker 2: the county.

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Speaker 1: Gut tell you that it's maybe a little bit high,

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Speaker 1: because one hundred and fifty dollars per square meter per

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Speaker 1: year is what Auckland charge. Is it like that's its

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Speaker 1: highest charge in Auckland is many times bigger than total.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I don't know, to be honest, and you

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Speaker 2: know that's that's a conversation we need to have for

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Speaker 2: the people that are on the ground and using using

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Speaker 2: the space.

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Speaker 1: Yea.

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Speaker 2: But you know, we've had a very complicated system in

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Speaker 2: place around you know what what the sort of you

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Speaker 2: know how how good the streets and all that sort

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Speaker 2: of stuff. So what we've tried to do is simplify

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Speaker 2: that have a couple of different charges. But you know,

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Speaker 2: we're absolutely looking prepared to look at that. And you know,

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Speaker 2: at the moment we're only being charging the CBD nowhere

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Speaker 2: else and we're sort of bringing these charges in across

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Speaker 2: the city. So you know, that's that's something that we

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Speaker 2: want to sort of consult on understand should it be

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Speaker 2: the same everywhere? And you know, what's of those charges

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Speaker 2: be And that's what we'll do over the next.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm please, I'm sure people will be pleased.

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Speaker 2: Here.

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Speaker 1: Listen to something else. I saw that you voted against

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Speaker 1: adding fluoride to the water because you're not sure it's safe.

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Speaker 1: What are you worried.

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Speaker 2: About I think there's a there's a lot of studies

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Speaker 2: and obviously a court case and in a in a

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Speaker 2: in America that's just come out saying there's a unreasonable

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Speaker 2: risk to to you know, in safety risks. So all

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Speaker 2: I all I really want to do is I want

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Speaker 2: to hear it from the d G that she's happy

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Speaker 2: that those you know, all those studies are you know,

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Speaker 2: aren't aren't valid and and she's still very comfortable, but

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Speaker 2: it's it's safe for our people. And that's that's really

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 1: Because the last d G. Did the last d G,

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Speaker 1: Ashley Bloomfield, decide that that it was compulsory it was

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Speaker 1: going to be added to water and stuff. So is

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Speaker 1: his his take on it not sufficient?

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Speaker 2: I think it has just been further information since those

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Speaker 2: decisions were made, and I think I think, you know,

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Speaker 2: those those decisions should be be looked at with the

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Speaker 2: research and you know, if they come back to us

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Speaker 2: and say, yeah, it's absolutely safe, then you know, I'm

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Speaker 2: very comfortable adding it to the water. But they're also

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Speaker 2: under a court case, you know, against the Bill of Rights,

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Speaker 2: and you know that's that's something that they also need

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Speaker 2: to consider whether it's an impingement on our Bill of Rights.

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Speaker 2: And you know, once I've done that, you know we'll

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Speaker 2: we'll go along with with what the Director General of

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Speaker 2: Health says.

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Speaker 1: All Right, my heir, thank you very much. I really

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Speaker 1: appreciate you time. Mate. This is my hair Drysdale, Mayor

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Speaker 1: of Turning. I imagine quite a few business will be

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Speaker 1: pleased to hear that they're going to have a look

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Speaker 1: at that. For more from Hither Duplessy, Allen Drive listen

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