Wednesday 8 May 2013

Development of draft Local Alcohol Policy progresses

Christchurch City Council’s draft Local Alcohol Policy (LAP), which aims to minimise alcohol related harm in the city, took shape at today’s Planning Committee meeting.

The committee discussed what the draft policy should contain after listening to varying views from groups such as the Police, Victoria Neighbourhood Association, Hospitality New Zealand and representatives from the Canterbury District Health Board. The committee also considered the large amount of information that has been gathered by Council staff in order to form the draft.

Key components of the draft policy that the committee decided upon include:

• A closing time of 3am in the Central City Entertainment Precincts for taverns, bars, pubs, night-clubs and clubs, with a one-way door policy of 1am.
• A closing time of 1am elsewhere in the Central City for taverns, bars, pubs, night-clubs and clubs, with a discretionary one-way door policy where appropriate.
• A closing time of 1am in suburban areas of the city for taverns, bars, pubs, night-clubs and clubs, with a discretionary one-way door policy where appropriate.
• Maximum trading hours of 9am until 9pm for all off-licences in Christchurch.

The draft LAP will now go to the full Council for approval on 16 May, after which time the community will have their chance to make submissions on what is proposed.

Planning Committee Chair Sue Wells says the committee understands the importance of the LAP to the community.

“The Council has been engaging with key stakeholders for a number of months to help with the formation of this policy. We understand that different groups feel very strongly about alcohol and licensing matters and have tried to come up with a draft policy for consultation that we feel best meets the needs of Christchurch, although it will not be a perfect fit for everyone. This still needs to be signed off by full Council, so may yet change.

“Another important part of the process will begin once a draft is signed off by full Council next week – consultation with the wider community. What the community says, and wants, is really important to us and we hope people become involved and make a submission.”

The committee recommended to the Council that the draft LAP be adopted for consultation between 31 May and 1 July 2013. It also resolved a hearings panel be appointed to hear submissions during July 2013, which would then deliberate on these before reporting back to the Council on the form of the provisional LAP by the end of August 2013.

The Committee also noted that the development of other local alcohol policies and precinct based accords should be signalled in the statement of proposal going out for consultation, with Victoria Street to be prioritised as the first of these.

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Background information:

• The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act (2012) allows councils to develop LAPs which relate to the sale, supply or consumption of alcohol within their districts. LAPs can only deal with licensing matters.

• The Christchurch City Council voted unanimously in February 2013 to prepare a provisional Christchurch-specific LAP before the October local body elections. It agreed that addressing alcohol-related harm in the community is a priority for the Council and there is a need to act promptly to provide an appropriate, local licensing environment to complement the implementation of the new Act.

• If a council does not have a LAP in place, licensing decisions and default opening hours will be directed by the criteria set out in the Act.

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