Thousands of South Cantabrians have already voted on whether to change the date of their region's anniversary celebration, which clashes with the newly announced one-off Queen Elizabeth II Memorial Day.
South Canterbury Anniversary Day is typically held on the fourth Monday of September, which will be September 26 this year - the same date as the one-off public holiday being held to mark New Zealand's memorial service for the late monarch.
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A number of irked South Canterbury residents voiced their displeasure at the clash, and thousands have already had their say on a proposal to move the date of their regional celebration to November 11.
"We've had great community engagement on the subject so far, with nearly 7500 people from across the three districts filling in the survey," Timaru District Council communications manager Stephen Doran said.
"The November 11 date was chosen to align with Canterbury Anniversary Day. Other options for the day such as the 23rd or 27th September were considered, but it was thought this was the option that caused the least disruption."
The survey opened on Monday after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the new holiday and acknowledged the clash.
Legislation dictates that only one public holiday can occur at a time.
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"We have asked MBIE to reach out to the local leadership in South Canterbury because they do have the ability, should they choose, to move or celebrate their day on another day," Ardern said at the time.
"We were aware of that, we discussed it at Cabinet, we were concerned about that too."
One Twitter user wrote: "So they get one day off less than the rest of the country. Did anyone look at the calendar?"
Another said: "There's going to be a lot of disappointed people in South Canterbury."
Wendy Smith, chief executive of the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, says businesses are frustrated with the uncertainty.
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"Queen Elizabeth was our longest serving Sovereign and was much loved by New Zealanders. Hence a day's memorial is understandable," Smith said. But "under the Holidays Act when two public holidays fall on the same day, employees only get one day off".
"From the feedback we have received this would not be a scenario that would be accepted by employees – and understandably so as the rest of the country gains another public holiday."
Smith added that "there is no clear and singular view from the business community" in the region.
"Some are concerned that Canterbury Anniversary is a day that traditionally attracts Cantabrians to the Timaru District to shop, dine out and visit. Hence a number of businesses do not wish to lose this opportunity.
"Others believe that with the considerable upheaval that has been felt especially in the tourism, hospitality and retail areas many smaller businesses cannot afford another public holiday.
"Other businesses have already asked the Chamber to lobby to permanently shift the South Canterbury Anniversary to Canterbury Anniversary as they believe this will minimise disruption to business."
Voting in the survey closes at 11.59pm on Friday.
The three local councils - Timaru, Waimate and Mackenzie - will meet on Tuesday, September 20 to make a decision on the proposal.
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