Francesca Rudkin: We need to simplify Easter trading hours - The Sunday Session with Francesca Rudkin

If you live in a city, there is something quite special about waking up on Good Friday - to the sound of silence.

There are no cars on the road, no hum of traffic in the distance, no sound of people going about their day-to-day routines. My first thought on Friday was - it’s like Christmas Day. My second thought wasn’t as pleasant - it’s like lockdown. But the feeling was the same - how nice the world is when it pauses for a moment.

But as much as I appreciate these few days a year when many get to stop, the crazy rush, chock-a-block carparks and supermarkets on Thursday and Saturday made me wonder whether it’s worth it. 

We don’t seem to be able to cope, or prepare, for supermarkets to shut. If we weren’t down on hot cross buns, I certainly wouldn’t have made the trip to my local. It’s lovely having Friday and Sunday off, but not, if the days around it are a nightmare.

We have been talking about the inconsistencies and confusion around retail laws over Easter for as long as I can remember. What is open and shut depends on where you are in the country; sometimes where you are in a city. Don’t forget it’s the local authority which decides whether stores can open or not.  

It depends on what you’re selling. There are strange restrictions on what can be sold, and you must be selling something that people can’t put off buying until the next day. But you can get a haircut. And just to make it even more confusing - the Shop Trading Hours Act covers both public holidays, and days that aren’t public holidays, such as Easter Sunday.

I think it’s time to let people decide for themselves how they want to spend their Easter. Whether they open their businesses, work or shop, or do none of the above and quietly go about their day. 

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