The road over the Takaka Hill is open again, but the road to recovery remains a long and windy one for some businesses.
The Wholemeal Cafe in Takaka is one of the town's longest running cafes. Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
The co-owner of a Takaka art gallery said business was halved when State Highway 60, over the hill, was closed by storm damage after ex-cyclone Gita.
A $100,000 government rescue package has been used by the Tasman District Council as the basis for its mayoral relief fund. Much of it is geared to helping businesses, and a small portion was set aside to help residents affected by the damage and otherwise without help.
Some said the application is so complicated they have tossed the paperwork in the bin. One person has even hired an accountant to help fill out their application.
Tasman District Mayor, Richard Kempthorne, said he helped to create the forms, but never meant it to be an onerous process.
James Watson is the co-owner of a Takaka art gallery and says they ended up throwing the application in the bin. Photo: RNZ / Tracy Neal
James Watson said the gallery looked into applying for help, but it was soon evident they would be chasing their tails.
"We did look into it but it seemed like a lot of red tape and a lot of faffing around; toing and froing, and in the end we just left it."
The huge slump in visitors after February has meant many businesses have struggled to make ends meet, and some have laid off staff.
Aydee Green runs one of Takaka's longest-running cafes - the Wholemeal Cafe, and said some suffered worse than others.
"The galleries, the souvenir places and the clothing stores, whereas we're food - everyone needs food and a warm environment, but I wouldn't like to be in retail."
Jessica Henderson owns The Woolshed - a cafe and craft shop at the top of the Takaka Hill, which sells Devonshire teas on tables with red checkered tablecloths, and products from the sheep grazing in surrounding paddocks.
She applied for assistance from the business recovery grant, but soon learned she needed professional help from her accountant to fill out the paperwork.
"I don't know to generate profit and loss so I rang her and she said she'd put something together which she did, really quickly. She sent me some information and I attached it to my application."
Ms Henderson has not yet had the bill, and is hoping it won't exceed the value of any assistance she might get.
But she is viewing it as an investment in business management. If successful, she will use the money to develop online sales and marketing, and to enrol in an accounting course.
"Rather than a relief fund it's more of a 'what will you do to get your business up and running again', so I came up with a couple of ideas. What I said to the accountant is, 'can I have some one-on-one time with you, to talk me through how that works'."
Richard Kempthorne said he had heard early on people had found it difficult, and his advice then was they should make it easy for themselves, and keep the information simple.
"We're not wanting to make this an onerous, bureaucratic process, but to keep it as simple as possible, and low-cost."
Mr Kempthorne did not yet know how many had applied. The deadline was extended, giving businesses until yesterday to apply.
"I spoke to a couple of people in Golden Bay who said the timeframe was challenging, Easter was in the middle of it and could we extend it, so we said yes."
Businesses should know within two weeks whether they have been successful in receiving a grant.
