Alcohol Ban Back For Town During Marlborough Wine And Food Festival, Year-round Ban Floated

Friday, 27 December 2024, 9:11 pm
Article: Maia Hart - Local Democracy Reporter

An alcohol ban will return for the streets of the small town hosting the Marlborough Wine & Food Festival, with talks of the ban being made permanent.

The alcohol ban in Renwick was first launched for the 2024 festival in February, after a request from police.

At a full council meeting on 12 December, solicitor Claudia Mark talked the Marlborough District Council through a renewal of its Alcohol Control Bylaw, which was recently reviewed.

The review found the bylaw was the best way to deal with alcohol consumption in public places, Mark said, as there were already permanent alcohol bans for central Blenheim and Picton.

"It has been very effective, and regulated people's behaviour to address problems of crime, disorder [and] incidents of harm," she said.

Mark said police had been in contact with the council about extending the ban to Renwick.

"We have agreed to open that conversation after the summer period, because it's too busy for them to have that conversation now and we need that bylaw in place now," she said.

Wairau-Awatere ward councillor Scott Adams said he was aware of the Renwick concerns, particularly at the Renwick Domain skate park, where people often left empty bottles and cans around.

"It is a bit of a concern for the community out there," she said.

The full council agreed to approve the bylaw, which had a 10-year term. Should conversations with police lead to an amendment in the permanent ban bylaw to extend it to Renwick, the council would consult with the community.

Because the permanent alcohol ban bylaw did not extend to Renwick, the council would need to carry out a public notice for the temporary alcohol ban for the February 2025 festival.

The Renwick ban, covering Inkerman, Uxbridge and Alma streets, was requested by police after festival-goers ended up at the Woodbourne Tavern in 2023, for an event coinciding with the festival that was dubbed an "after party".

Police told the Marlborough District Council that people "ejected" from that event met up with others and congregated on the footpath, and were "generally uncooperative".

The ban would run from 6am on Saturday, 8 February, until 6am on 9 February.

The council earlier this year also agreed to have another look at drafting a local alcohol policy (LAP).

It first began drafting a LAP in 2013, but in 2014, the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority recommended councils halt their development, because some were being appealed by "large players".

At an environment and planning committee meeting in July, council environmental health officer Karen Winter told councillors that recent changes to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act removed the ability for an LAP to be appealed.

"If we go through special consultative procedure in the right way, there is no appeal option now for some of those large players to basically tie us up in legal costs."

A local alcohol policy applied to on-licence premises, where alcohol was consumed on-site, as well as off licences, where alcohol was sold for consumption elsewhere, such as a liquor store.

It could include rules on location, such as restricting bottle stores from opening near schools and churches, or from opening in high deprivation areas.

The draft had not yet be brought to the council.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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