Neighbours have been complaining about Mark van Roosmalen's suit business operating out of his property in Ilam.

Residents of a Christchurch suburb are upset a tailor is running a suit-making business out of his home. MONIQUE STEELE reports.

Christchurch tailor Mark van Roosmalen says he's just trying to make a living after losing his business in the Canterbury earthquakes.

But his new neighbours in the Christchurch suburb of Ilam say there's no place for commercial businesses in residential streets.

DAVID WALKER/FAIRFAX NZ Mark van Roosmalen runs his tailoring business out of his Ilam home.

"I can't see what the big drama is," van Roosmalen said.

"It was like I was lowering the tone of the place, I'm a bespoke tailor for Christ's sake."

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DAVID WALKER/FAIRFAX NZ Mark van Roosmalen's suit business as seen from Otara St in Ilam.

Van Roosmalen has faced push back from a local residents' group which opposes his small business operating out of his Ilam property.

The Hamilton Ave and Otara St Residents' Association raised concerns about the encroachment of commercial activity* into their residential area, including the expansion of Fendalton Mall, and was frustrated at the lack of council enforcement regarding vehicle access to 15 Otara St.

"It's not so much the tailor we're upset with, it's the principle of having a commercial activity in a residential zone," association chairman Doug Archbold said.

DAVID WALKER/FAIRFAX NZ Mark van Roosmalen in his element.

"It's similar to the [proposed] funeral parlour in Rochdale St. A commercial operation has no place in a residential street. It's not complicated."

Van Roosmalen has been running his business out of his sister's Otara St home where he lives, opposite Fendalton Mall, for nearly two years.

Losing his Manchester St store of 23 years in the February 2011 earthquake was "pretty devastating", he said. He moved the business into his mother's garage on Memorial Ave and, after she died, he moved it to Otara Ave.

The operation was permitted under the Christchurch City Council's special temporary accommodation permit following the earthquakes. The permit allowed displaced businesses to run out of residential properties. Van Roosmalen's permit was issued in October 2015 and will expire in June 2021.

"They've extended it to 2021 which is nonsense – 11 years after the earthquake," Archbold said. "By that time it may be possible to close it down.

"It's certainly not a personal, vindictive campaign by their neighbour or me."

DAVID WALKER/FAIRFAX NZ Mark van Roosmalen at work.

After "maybe a dozen" visits, council staff submitted a report to the Fendalton-Waimairi-Harewood Community Board on Monday approving the commercial activity.

The report did note the property's shared driveway was too wide, and the owner had been notified to get a resource consent to fix it.

Archbold said the council's response was "pretty pathetic".

"The council are not prepared to fully enforce their own rules."

Board chairman David Cartwright said he understood the business was operating under council rules, and nearby residents should not add any more material to the "neighbours at war" narrative.

"They've probably done everything they can do through council requirements or avenues. A neighbour could knock on the door and say can we work together," he said.

"Sometimes having a cup of tea and sorting out what can be done can be a good place to start."​

* An earlier version of this story said the association had raised concerns specifically about the bespoke tailor business, rather than commercial activity in general, and was frustrated the council allowed it to continue, rather than its specific frustration over vehicle access.

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