Matt Redwood: Coffee on Queen co-owner on the Tasman District Council threatening fines for flags on the footpath

There’s trouble brewing in Nelson over a council bylaw banning advertising flags outside shops.  

The bylaw was adopted in November of 2024, limiting retailers to a single sandwich board display, which must be placed against the curb. 

'Coffee on Queen’ has been threatened with a $500 fine and forced to remove their flag, which co-owner Matt Redwood says attracts $200-$300 in revenue from foot traffic.  

Redwood told Mike Hosking the rule is taking a lot of money out of businesses pockets. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've got a scrap in Nelson councilor by law banning

(00:03):
advertising flags. You know there's advertising flags outside shops. Coffee
on Queen has been threatened with a five hundred dollars
fine forced to remove the flag. It attracts an estimated
two to three hundred dollars in foot traffic. Apparently Matt
Redwood is the co owner of the place in these weathers.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Matt, morning, morning, Mike, how are you today?

Speaker 1 (00:18):
Very well? Indeed, is this new? This law's not new,
I take it.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
No, We've We've been in this business five years, me
and my wife, and this law came into affectus. By
law came into sect in November and we never knew
about it until about three weeks ago, just after the floods.
The councilman came down and told us all the business
we had to remove their flags.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
Are there lots of flags on the.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Main street of Richmond. I would probably count twenty down
the main street, so it's quite affected for our businesses.

Speaker 1 (00:47):
Well, I was going to ask, do you know it's
effective or you think it's effective?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
No, I definitely know it's effective because we opened so
early in the morning's Mike and people just tell me,
we know you're open because your flag's out, and of
coll to other business down the street and they hidden
buy kinder boxes and stuff and they put their flags
out and people know where they are, right, it's yeah,
it's driving. Yeah, there's taking a lot of money out
of our pocket.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
Do you do you have people complain about the flags.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
I've never had a first to complain at the flag,
never ever, because once.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
They are a bit flappy on a windy day, aren't they.
They can they swing around, They can hit you, can't they.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Yeah. Our footpath here white is two and a half
meters wide, so yeah, so it's a very wide footpath.
So between where my flag sits from where the shop
is two meters gap, so you're virtually walking in the
car doors if you're walking to where the flags arepot Well.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
When the person comes in from the council, what do
they I mean, what do they call themselves? Are they
the flag ticket? What are they called? I'm from the council.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
First of all, it was the parking warden who had
to issue their first one, so he was the first
porter call. And then we had a gentleman come down
from the council who controls the by laws and him
and me had caught a heated discussion about it, and
I just sid that what this is? Cost of this money?
How does this I'm about? And we didn't get complication
on this. It was this pushed through without nobody knowing.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Did he buy a coffee?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
No? He didn't. What a p I know? Right? So
what are you?

Speaker 1 (02:12):
What are you going to do? Nothing?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
You can do nothing off they've told us we can.
We can go up there and reapply it. This we
looked at it after six months because there's an election
coming up and on corner staying with the council. No,
you can look at this now like we should be
able to get a change now like not happened to
sit around and go we can fix this or we
can come to compromise. They just don't want to do anything.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Hey, what's what's a what's a long black? How much
you're charging?

Speaker 2 (02:40):
We're four fifty? This is rich for Lord Auckland's.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
You've got two and a half meter wide foot paths
and four dollars fifty coffee. Yep, I don't know what
I'm doing here, mate, Listen. I wish you the best
with it. Matt Redwood, co owner of coffee on Queen.
I think we're moving the show. I mean, for goodness sake,
four dollars fifty and two and a half meter wide
foot parts.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
As he tried sticking when in a code with that
bear way around it.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
SPS are offering three point nine to nine percent mortgage
money first time buyer is you got to be a
first time buyer, but three point ninety nine you crack three.
I mean, I'm not that's not an ad. I'm just
saying I'm interested in people getting into the first time
and I'm not interested in people moaning about how expensive
it Isn't it like there's an answer. Get three point
nine nine from SBS, Go buy a house and Nelson,

(03:25):
go buy in Richmond. You've got two and a half
meters wide foot pass, you got four dollar fifty coffee,
you got three ninety nine mortgage money, you got a
first home. I mean, come on for more from the
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