Last call for tavern after licence lost

Otago Daily Times

05-05-2025

South Dunedin's St Kilda Tavern could soon serve its last drinks after being stripped of its liquor licence due to concerns about its Auckland-based owner.
That was despite Dunedin's district licensing committee saying there was "no evidence" to support concerns raised by police about the links between the tavern's current and former owners.
The tavern's on-licence and off-licence renewal application was opposed by police, the medical officer of health and a licensing inspector.
In its decision, committee secretary Kevin Mechen said they visited the premises twice in the week leading up to a reconvened hearing last month.
On both occasions, a committee member was told there was no food available, and it appeared no food had been prepared at the premises since the beginning of the year.
The on-site manager had not maintained the food provision to the standard required by law, and it appeared Mr Singh, while in Dunedin, "has made no effort to inspect the premises for even the basic requirement of his licence," Mr Mechen said.
"When we weigh up the evidence, the committee is not confident the premises is being operated properly and that the applicant, despite undertaking to come to Dunedin for 10 days per month, does not have processes in place to ensure the premises will meet its statutory obligations.
"The application is therefore declined."
The applicant could not trade beyond next Wednesday and had been given until then to formally close the business, he said.
A staff member who identified themselves as a duty manager declined to speak to the Otago Daily Times on the record yesterday.
Efforts to reach Kilda Hospitality Ltd director Darshpreet Singh for comment yesterday were unsuccessful.
The premises was first opened in 1873, had been continuously licensed since opening as a hotel and had been a tavern since 1970, a report to the committee said.
Its potential closure comes after the Carisbrook Hotel ceased trading in June 2023, as well as the forced closure of Mitchells Tavern the same month after it was gutted in a fire.
Committee chairman Colin Weatherall said yesterday it was "certainly not a regular occurrence" that an application for a licensed premises as established as the St Kilda Tavern was declined.
"It's a bit unusual.
"The committee is very conscious of the community it serves, but the application in its own right failed to meet the criteria of the [Sale and Supply of Alcohol] Act in more ways than one."
Ownership of the tavern had reverted to the landlord, who had indicated they may try to sell the establishment as a going concern, Mr Weatherall said.
The committee heard at the hearing in February Mr Singh lived in Auckland at present and planned to come to Dunedin once or twice a month for two or three-day visits at a time.
He later made a commitment to be at the premises for at least 10 days in every month for the first year of business.
Much of police's evidence was subject to a non-publication order and part of the hearing was excluded to the public.
The majority of this evidence related to the previous owner and not the applicant, Mr Mechen said.
It was suggested the applicant was a friend of the previous owner and there was a business connection between the two, but "no evidence was produced to support this assertion."
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