Central Wellington businesses affected by new cycleway

The new cycleway running opposite the Thorndon General Store on Tinakori Road in Central Wellington has put a question mark over the livelihood of its owner, affecting other businesses in the area as well.

Nimesh Patel and his wife Hetal have run the dairy for the last 12 years and had built up a steady, loyal client base in and around the Thorndon area.

But all that changed after the Wellington City Council removed scores of parking lots in the locality and replaced them with a cycle lane. As a result, customers headed for Patel’s dairy are unable to find parking space. Compounding this problem, van drivers delivering supplies have lost direct access to his store.

“I have lost from 20  to 40 per cent of my customers ever since the cycle lane appeared in front of my shop,” Patel told the Indian  Weekender .

Patel, for whom the dairy is the sole source of income, was part of a delegation led by the Thorndon Residents Association that met the Council to lodge their concerns before the cycle lane was laid.

But their entreaties fell on deaf ears, Patel said.