Latest news with #LocalAlcoholPolicy
NZ Herald
14-05-2025
- Automotive
- NZ Herald
Northland news in brief: Property values up
Free car seat checks Northland Road Safety Trust and its child restraint technician are offering free car seat checks, installs, tips and advice this week as part of Road Safety Week 2025. The aim is to ensure all car seats are installed correctly and safely, as 80% of child restraints are installed or used incorrectly. They will be at Otangarei Marae from 3pm until 6pm on Thursday, May 15. On Friday, May 16, a Road Safety Hero relay around the Hatea Loop will start at 1pm at the Canopy Bridge. Dress up in your most creative hero costume, pick up some road safety tips on the way, and be in to win one of many giveaways. DoC hut booking The Department of Conservation has opened bookings for its huts for the 2025/26 season, starting with backcountry huts, cabins, lodges and cottages. Bookings are open for popular shared huts like the Coromandel's Pinnacles Hut, Bushline in Nelson Lakes and Aspiring Hut. Fully bookable options include Te Whare Mata Uraura on Matiu/Somes Island, The Camphouse in Taranaki and Mimiwhangata Beach House in Northland. There are seven DoC huts in Northland. To make a booking, go to: Safe-drinking drive The Far North District Council has called on people across the district to share their thoughts on the selling and consumption of alcohol as the council aims to support safe, responsible drinking and reduce alcohol-related harm in communities. Insights will advise the council on how alcohol-free areas apply and develop a Local Alcohol Policy. The survey is open until May 30 and can be found on the council's website.
Scoop
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Gisborne Votes To Lift CBD Alcohol Restrictions, Sparks Debate
Gisborne district councillors have voted to scrap restrictive alcohol rules in the CBD despite recent opposition during consultation. The rules prevent new liquor licences near sensitive sites like marae and schools. Councillors argued the change would create a more vibrant CBD, but some opposed linking alcohol to vibrancy. Gisborne district councillors have voted to scrap restrictive alcohol rules within the town centre despite two-thirds of submissions opposing the move in recent consultation. Those submitting against relaxing the rules noted the region's issues with alcohol-related harm, which they say disproportionately affect Māori, and sought to protect marae, schools and sensitive sites. During a Sustainable Tairāwhiti meeting on Thursday, councillors acknowledged the region's 'dire' addiction problem, but did not believe lifting the restrictive rules would affect it. Councillors said the 'sensitive sites' rules, implemented in 2018, had created 'unintended' consequences for hospitality. The rules prevent new liquor licences – except for cafes, restaurants, and special licences – within 150m of sites such as marae, schools, spiritual facilities and recreational areas. Councillors voted to remove the rules from the central business district (CBD) to enable a more 'vibrant' town centre. Under this amendment, the District Licensing Committee will also be able to consider exemptions from the sensitive sites rules outside of the CBD, according to the council report. Councillors Nick Tupara and Ani Pahuru-Huriwai voted against the move and questioned the reasoning of equating alcohol to vibrancy. 'I don't think there is enough discussion around what a vibrant CBD can look like without needing to bring alcohol into the conversation,' Pahuru-Huriwai said. She said a point raised during submissions was that iwi partners wanted to be engaged in any conversations that took place around alcohol policies. Tupara said many submitters against removing the rules were Māori and iwi, and that Māori had suffered from the consumption of alcohol since it arrived in the country. It was 'totally wrong' that alcohol was 'the heartbeat of what makes our community', he said. 'This whole thing is a joke.' This year, public consultation found two-thirds of 207 submissions voted in support of keeping the restrictions. However, early engagement in late 2024 had shown 82% of 62 submissions and 1067 votes disagreed with keeping the rules. The option to maintain the restriction was endorsed by the Tri-Agencies - NZ Police, the National Public Health Service and the Chief Licensing Inspectorate - according to the council report. Councillor Debbie Greggory said she was well-placed to talk on the issue, as she grew up with alcohol addiction in her home, and as 15 years sober, had 'lived the road to sobriety'. 'We have an addiction problem. We have a massive need for an addiction centre, but this is not something council can provide.' Gregory said the Local Alcohol Policy (Sensitive Sites) Hearings last week exposed the region's 'gigantic problem' and she hoped the council could harness 'the energy and passion' heard from submitters to make the Government, especially the health sector, see their 'dire situation'. The region needed to expand access to treatment services and address the issue's root causes - poverty, trauma and lack of opportunity, Gregory said. She acknowledged the heightened emotion surrounding the proposed city establishment Anjuna Beer Garden, which did not open after an alcohol licence appeal from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hawaiki Hou, which is located a few doors away from the bar. Councillor Aubrey Ria said she had 'lost sleep' over the council report detailing the recommended adoption of the sensitive sites policy to be removed. She supported excluding the rules, but wanted to know if the council could offer the kura protection while it occupied its current location. 'Council planning allowed for the kura to go to its current position,' Ria said. 'I feel much aroha for them and the position that they are in.' The kura had recently been granted Government funding for four new senior school classrooms and to move to a permanent site. However, Mayor Rehette Stoltz said they did not know how long the transition could take and noted they needed to focus on the options that needed to be voted on that day. 'What if the school moves in three years?' Stoltz said the lever for sensitive sites was not the lever that would address the alcohol harm issues in the region. 'We need a collaborative, health, mental health, Government approach.' Councillor Rawinia Parata said the council's job was to govern what was best for the region, noting they were still going through a cyclone recovery period. 'For a long time, there has been significant underinvestment in our CBD [and] region ... it doesn't make sense to hold us back further.' Parata said not only would they be holding the region's hospitality sector back by keeping the restrictions, they would also be holding rangatahi back. 'If we do not provide them with establishments and places to learn how to be outside, how to be in public, we're not setting them up for the world – and that's not good,' she said. Parata said on-licences had rules that controlled drinking, unlike off-licences. According to the report, in addition to the amendments to exclude the CBD from the sensitive sites rules, council-maintained cemeteries (urupā) would also be added as a sensitive site within the provisions. A date for the amended policy to take effect is yet to be confirmed, but it will be in May or June. The review of the Local Alcohol Policy 2024 is due to be completed by August 2030, as required by legislation.
Scoop
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Let Them Dance: Napier To Retain 3am Bar Closing Times, After Council U-Turn
Article – Linda Hall – Local Democracy Reporter Napier City Council amended its proposed Local Alcohol Policy to maintain the status quo, allowing bars, pubs, and nightclubs to open until 3am with a one-way door policy at 2am. Napier City Council has done a u-turn on its proposal to close bars an hour earlier, with one councillor saying he wasn't prepared to take the chance for young people to dance away from them. Councillor Richard McGrath said he looked around the council table when he was making up his mind. 'The likes of the three o'clock in the morning is for 18 to 25-year-olds. 'And that's not us,' McGrath said. 'There is only one place in Napier open until 3am and it offers a point of difference, – you can actually go and dance, not my thing but for plenty of people it is and perhaps if we go back far enough around the table, for some, dancing was a big thing. 'I'm not prepared to take that away from our community who are growing up and doing their thing and learning about the world. 'How are they going to learn about the world sitting at home playing on a Playstation?' The earlier closing time was a major part of the draft Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) which also included no more off-licences to be issued for bottle stores in Maraenui, Marewa and Onekawa – the Reserve, Suburban Commercial and Residential Zone. However, during the meeting, Mayor Kirsten Wise called for an amendment to the proposed LAP based on what she was hearing around the table. 'What I'm going to propose is an amendment to the officers' recommendation yet to be debated, and voted on but as our starting position, is we retain the provisions in the existing LAP regarding maximum trading hours, regarding the 3am closing for nightclubs and 7am selling at grocery stores.' In all, 44% of submitters supported the proposed changes with their reasons including helping reduce the harm caused by antisocial behaviour and alcohol, while 56% were against it with reasons including unnecessary pressure on the hospitality industry. Chris Sullivan, a publican who has been in the industry for 47 years, had earlier said the proposed changes in the closing hours were crazy. He said if bars had issues they were 'not being run right, with little or no security'. Sullivan, who owns Napier nightclub Roxof, spoke at the meeting about the importance of creating a safe environment using security and cameras. Another issue identified by officers on the proposed LAP was consistency and alignment with Hastings District Council. Hastings bars are open until 2am. However, McGrath said he kept hearing about Hastings. 'I was voted in for Napier. It's about time perhaps Hastings looked at itself and said 'hey actually Napier's going to three, if we think there's a big enough issue with the different closing times, we will match Napier'. 'It doesn't always have to be us going the other way, they can match us. We are a tourist town, perhaps they aren't so much.'
Scoop
01-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Let Them Dance: Napier To Retain 3am Bar Closing Times, After Council U-Turn
Napier City Council has done a u-turn on its proposal to close bars an hour earlier, with one councillor saying he wasn't prepared to take the chance for young people to dance away from them. Councillor Richard McGrath said he looked around the council table when he was making up his mind. 'The likes of the three o'clock in the morning is for 18 to 25-year-olds. 'And that's not us,' McGrath said. 'There is only one place in Napier open until 3am and it offers a point of difference, - you can actually go and dance, not my thing but for plenty of people it is and perhaps if we go back far enough around the table, for some, dancing was a big thing. 'I'm not prepared to take that away from our community who are growing up and doing their thing and learning about the world. 'How are they going to learn about the world sitting at home playing on a Playstation?' The earlier closing time was a major part of the draft Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) which also included no more off-licences to be issued for bottle stores in Maraenui, Marewa and Onekawa – the Reserve, Suburban Commercial and Residential Zone. However, during the meeting, Mayor Kirsten Wise called for an amendment to the proposed LAP based on what she was hearing around the table. 'What I'm going to propose is an amendment to the officers' recommendation yet to be debated, and voted on but as our starting position, is we retain the provisions in the existing LAP regarding maximum trading hours, regarding the 3am closing for nightclubs and 7am selling at grocery stores.' In all, 44% of submitters supported the proposed changes with their reasons including helping reduce the harm caused by antisocial behaviour and alcohol, while 56% were against it with reasons including unnecessary pressure on the hospitality industry. Chris Sullivan, a publican who has been in the industry for 47 years, had earlier said the proposed changes in the closing hours were crazy. He said if bars had issues they were 'not being run right, with little or no security'. Sullivan, who owns Napier nightclub Roxof, spoke at the meeting about the importance of creating a safe environment using security and cameras. Another issue identified by officers on the proposed LAP was consistency and alignment with Hastings District Council. Hastings bars are open until 2am. However, McGrath said he kept hearing about Hastings. 'I was voted in for Napier. It's about time perhaps Hastings looked at itself and said 'hey actually Napier's going to three, if we think there's a big enough issue with the different closing times, we will match Napier'. 'It doesn't always have to be us going the other way, they can match us. We are a tourist town, perhaps they aren't so much.' LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
NZ Herald
01-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Local Alcohol Policy: Napier to retain 3am bar closing times after council reversal
'There is only one place in Napier open until 3am and it offers a point of difference – you can actually go and dance, not my thing but for plenty of people it is and perhaps if we go back far enough around the table, for some, dancing was a big thing. 'I'm not prepared to take that away from our community who are growing up and doing their thing and learning about the world. 'How are they going to learn about the world sitting at home playing on a PlayStation?' The earlier closing time was a major part of the draft Local Alcohol Policy (LAP), which also included that no more off-licences be issued for bottle stores in Maraenui, Marewa and Onekawa – the Reserve, Suburban Commercial and Residential Zone. However, during the meeting, Mayor Kirsten Wise called for an amendment to the proposed LAP based on what she was hearing around the table. 'What I'm going to propose is an amendment to the officers' recommendation yet to be debated, and voted on but as our starting position, is we retain the provisions in the existing LAP regarding maximum trading hours, regarding the 3am closing for nightclubs and 7am selling at grocery stores.' In all, 44% of submitters supported the proposed changes, with their reasons including helping reduce the harm caused by antisocial behaviour and alcohol, while 56% were against the changes, with reasons including unnecessary pressure being placed on the hospitality industry. Chris Sullivan, a publican who has been in the industry for 47 years, had earlier said the proposed changes in the closing hours were crazy. He said if bars had issues they were 'not being run right, with little or no security'. Sullivan, who owns Napier nightclub Roxof, spoke at the meeting about the importance of creating a safe environment using security and cameras. Another issue identified by officers on the proposed LAP was consistency and alignment with Hastings District Council. Hastings bars are open until 2am. However, McGrath said he kept hearing about Hastings. 'I was voted in for Napier. It's about time perhaps Hastings looked at itself and said 'hey actually Napier's going to three, if we think there's a big enough issue with the different closing times, we will match Napier'. 'It doesn't always have to be us going the other way, they can match us. We are a tourist town, perhaps they aren't so much.'
