Fuel ban closes Korere store

Press, 23 April 1979, Page 1

Fuel ban closes Korere store

Nelson reporter The well known Korere store, 64km north of Murchison will close on May 13 because of the weekend petrol restrictions. The decision to close th<_ store was made by its proprietors, Ken and Dawn Kirsopp, after they found that their petrol sales had fallen 60 per cent on last year and their store trading had fallen 40 per cent. “Eighty per cent of our business comes from the passing trade,” said Mr Kirsopp, “and the travelling public is either staying at home or going right past us. We have had to take our petrol signs down, and consequently tourists often pass us before they realise we are here.”

The Korere store and its petrol pumps are about 65km from Nelson. The nearest store is at Tapawera, about 26km away on a branch road, and the next petrol pumps are at Belgrove, about 36km to the north. Heading south after Korere no other store has petrol pumps until Murchison. Korere is a small “oasis” in an agricultural and forest wilderness. The store serves travellers on what is the main arterial tourist route from the North Island via Nelson to the West Coast and further south, and also local farms. Travellers to the Nelson Lakes National Park, at Lake Rotoiti and Lake Rotoroa, also passes through Korere. Mr and Mrs Kirsopp described their grievances

in a big advertisement which appeared in the “Nelson Evening Mail” on Saturday. The couple said that they had found it impossible to trade efficiently since the emergency petrol regulations were imposed. “We have found it impossible to maintain our usual trading standard, and have had problems with rotting fruit and unsold sandwiches, for example. This has been caused bv the petrol regulations. The clientele we have built up over six years have had to go elsewhere for supplies,” the advertisement said. “The bulk of our trading is done after what are termed normal trading hours and at week-ends, and the biggest proportion of the trade is with the

travelling public, including tourists.” The advertisement said that a closing-down sale would be held at a date to be fixed, and in a special note to rental-vehicle users said that contrary to what Mr Kirsopp had been led to believe, sales to such vehicles during the restricted period had been illegal and no more sales outside normal trading hours would be made. Mr Kirsopp said that he had found it extremely difficult to get a copy of the regulations. He had noted in clause 7 (I) that the Minister of Energy (Mr Birch) might from time to time authorise a retailer to sell petrol for essential purposes during the restricted period. “Obviously I am supposed to have a special 11-

cence to sell during restricted trading but I have not got one,” Mr Kirsopp said. “Therefore, I cannot sell during the restricted period even to essential users.” Mr Kirsopp said that he was thoroughly confused about the regulations, which he felt had been badly handled in that not enough information had been published or sent to retailers. The Kirsopp’s future is undecided, although Mrs Kirsopp has got a teaching position in Nelson for three months. “We cannot sell the business,” Mr Kirsopp said. “Who would want to buy it? We might not even be able to live here, depending on what job I can get.”