Kaipara businesses have been given the freedom to decide whether they want to open on Easter Sunday.
The Kaipara District Council received 35 public submissions on a policy proposal to allow shops to open on Easter Sunday and 19 were in favour of businesses trading that day.
Thirteen were opposed and three submitters opted to be neutral.
At their meeting earlier this month, Kaipara councillors decided to give businesses the choice to open on the religious holiday after receiving a report from a council sub-committee that assessed the public submissions.
The Dargaville Business Forum has welcomed the council's decision, saying some businesses like supermarkets, food outlets and gift shops were likely to benefit as a lot of tourists visited Kaipara during long weekends.
"Everything is becoming more connected and on-demand these days and giving businesses the flexibility to trade is a welcome move," forum chairman Peter Boyd said.
For a lot of people, he said, Easter was not their holy day therefore they should not be disadvantaged by not being able to access shops.
Council spokeswoman Heidi Clark said the policy neither required shops to open nor employees to work nor people to shop on Easter Sunday.
The Shop Trading Hours Amendment Act 2016 was adopted by the Government last year to give local authorities the option of allowing Easter Sunday trading.
Under the act, retailers must give staff four to eight weeks' notice if they want them to work.
The change comes with a strict proviso that employees could not be forced to work on Easter Sunday, or suffer any disadvantage if they refused.
The Aat regulates trading on Anzac Day morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day and would allow territorial authorities to develop their own policies regarding Easter.
It allows shops selling certain goods (for example, dairies, service stations and takeaway bars) to remain open on the restricted trading days.
The Far North District Council voted earlier this month to allow Easter Sunday trading while the Whangarei District Council has not made any decision yet.