Retail trade association Retail NZ has called on the Dunedin City Council to “put its money where its mouth is” and shut down services on Easter Sunday.

The challenge comes after the City Council Hearings Committee decision on Wednesday to ban most retailers from opening on Easter Sunday, while the Council said its own facilities would remain open for trade.

“Easter Sunday is not a public holiday,” Retail NZ general manager for public affairs Greg Harford said, who noted the decision was made to force retail workers to have a day off.

“Under the law, shop workers have special protections and have a specific legal right to decline work on Easter Sunday, but these protections do not apply to those who work for the Council,” he said.

“If the Dunedin City Council wants the city to close down on Easter Sunday, then it should be consistent and close down all Council-owned operations as well.”

Harford noted the success of Easter Sunday shopping in Dunedin earlier in the year was the result of an Ed Sheeran concert, which attracted a large number of visitors to the city.

“The new shopping ban will be in force for many years to come, preventing Dunedin from making the most of future stadium events and cruise ship visits, inconveniencing locals and visitors alike,” Harford said.

“It will also give some commercial businesses which have an historic exemption from the ban an advantage over others.

“These rules and regulations were designed decades ago and no longer suit the needs of 21st century consumers or retailers.”

The issue of whether retailers can open on Easter Sunday was handed down from the government to local councils in 2015.

“New Zealand is a small country, and we should have one set of consistent rules applying nationally,” Harford said, while calling on the government to remove restrictions on shop trading hours on Easter Sunday.

In August, a court decision overturned Napier City Council policy to allow shops to open on Easter Sunday, creating further confusion for retailers around the issue.