Businesses affected by higher Covid-19 alert levels will be able to apply for further resurgence support payments (RSP), the government has announced.

The RSP was initially intended as a one-off payment to help businesses with their fixed costs, such as rent, and ministers have now agreed to provide additional payments to recognise the effects of an extended period of alert level restrictions, finance minister Grant Robertson said.

Ignite Wānaka general manager Naomi Lindsay said the announcement was “hugely welcome to the Wanaka business community”.

Not only did many businesses have to close completely during alert level four, while also paying rent and various overheads; many are still seeing reduced income in levels three and two, she said.

“Ignite Wanaka joined the NZ Chamber campaign to advocate to the government for further support and we are pleased that the ministers listened to our call and have come to the table with this support. I know this will not make-up for three plus weeks of lost and reduced revenue, but it goes some way to helping pay the bills," Naomi said.

Naomi said the government’s decision to extend the payments is in large part due to the ongoing petitioning and advocacy by the NZ Chamber network.

A petition led by the Auckland Chamber and supported by the New Zealand Chamber network, including Ignite Wānaka, has more than 57,000 signatures.

The payment and eligibility criteria to qualify for the RSP remain the same. 

Applications for the next RSP will open on Friday September 17. Ministers have agreed that there will be another two payments after that, three weeks apart, so long as the conditions that trigger the RSP apply.

The scheme will be available until all of New Zealand returns to alert level one for one month.

Find more information here.

PHOTO: Wānaka App