By Torika Tokalau of Local Democracy Reporting
Stricter rules on the sale of alcohol in Auckland could be implemented by Christmas time.
Supermarkets and bottle stores won’t be able to sell alcohol after 9pm, while there will be a freeze on new off-licenses in some town centres.
The Auckland Local Alcohol Policy is expected to have a positive impact for south Auckland – an area littered with bottle shops.
After a lengthy legal battle, the policy was finally approved by the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Committee (ARLA) – an independent tribunal.
On August 29, Auckland mayor and councillors will be asked to choose a date for the new rules to come in.
Dr Grant Hewison, a lawyer who works with Community Against Alcohol Harm (CAAH) in south Auckland, said the new policy couldn’t come at a better time, hopefully before Christmas.
The policy introduces stricter restrictions on the sale of alcohol for the city centre and town centres in areas with the highest alcohol-related harm. These are called priority overlay areas.
“It will have a really good impact in south Auckland, there’s a range of suburbs in the priority overlays,” Hewison said.
Of the 23 suburbs in the priority overlays, 13 were in south Auckland: Hunters Corner, Māngere, Māngere East, Manukau, Manurewa, Ōtāhuhu, Ōtara, Papakura, Papatoetoe, Pukekohe, Takanini, Weymouth (Clendon) and Wiri.
The other 10 suburbs are Avondale, Glen Eden, Glen Innes, Helensville and Parakai, Henderson, Mt Wellington, Oranga, Panmure, Point England, and Wellsford and Te Hana
“It basically restricts new off-licenses in particular from establishing within those areas, which covers the whole of the town centre and 200 metre radius around that.
Hewison said the other big change was that all off-licenses, including supermarkets, will stop selling alcohol at 9pm.
Hewison, who’s worked with CAAH for 10 years and heard concerns about the number of bottle shops popping up in the area, said off-license shops were currently allowed to trade till 11pm.
“Quite a few had been reduced to 10pm through community action, but there was still quite a few that had 11pm closing so they’re all going to be 9pm and that will make a massive difference to south Auckland and the wider region.”
According to the alcohol policy, there will be a two-year freeze on new off-licenses in city centre and priority overlay areas, and a rebuttable presumption against new off-licenses in neighbourhood centres after the freeze ends.
“It means it will make it even harder to open new off-licenses than it currently is, there will be a higher threshold than what there was previously.”
Before the policy, there has never been a freeze for new off-license applications, he said.
“Although in the last five or six years, there’s been a really strong community resistance to new off-licenses and we’ve had several that had been turned down in south Auckland.”
Council will now need to give public notice of the Local Alcohol Policy adoption, and the governing body will need to resolve the date of when it comes into force.
Restrictions on trading hours will come into force at least three months after public notification, to provide existing license holders who will have to reduce their trading hours, time to adjust.
Other elements of the policy could come into force earlier, if council decides.
Hewison said once the governing body meets this month, the hour reduction of trading could be in place before Christmas.
