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A District Licensing Committee decision to reject an application by the owners of an Ōtara bottle shop to renew their licence is being hailed as a victory for community groups fighting the impact of alcohol in south Auckland.
But the business involved is vowing to fight the ruling.
Last week the DLC rejected the application by the owners of Wymondley Discount Liquor to renew its off-licence.
The bottle shop, which is located in Ōtara’s Larsen St, was selling single bottles of beer for as little as $2 and had a promotion offering customers the chance to win a La-Z-Boy recliner chair – worth over $1300 – if they spent $20 or more on cider or RTDs.
The DLC’s decision said police statistics showed between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, the police recorded 71 calls relating to family and alcohol harm within 1 km of the store.
It said not renewing the bottle store’s licence would not only help reduce the availability of alcohol, but also family harm and vandalism in the area.
According to the DLC decision there are 18 licensed premises within a 2 km radius of the bottle store, which it said highlights the number of liquor outlets in Ōtara and Papatoetoe.
Mereana Peka, the chairperson of the Turehou Māori Wardens ki Ōtara Charitable Trust, said the impact of liquor in the area is frightening and the number of bottle stores is out of control.
She said that on several occasions she has had to return children to nearby houses where adults were partying, drinking and taking drugs.
Peka said she questioned whether she was helping the children, or putting them in greater danger.
Communities Against Alcohol Harm secretary and lawyer Grant Hewison said it was a great result for the community groups who have fought for years to reduce the harm from liquor outlets in south Auckland.
“Over the last year or so we’ve seen a move by the DLC to raise the bar in terms of what it expects from licence holders and we would encourage more of that in vulnerable communities like this.”
He said while the liquor store’s sale of beer for as little as $2 a bottle wasn’t against the law, it was against the objective of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 to reduce the harm caused by alcohol.
But Hewison said the promotion offering those who spent $20 or more on certain products a chance to go into the draw to win a Lazy Boy chair was a blatant breach of the act.
Neither the police nor Auckland Council liquor licensing inspector Derek Haddy opposed the bottle store’s renewal application.
Wymondley Discount Liquor director and owner Kamlesh Patel said he didn’t want to comment on last week’s decision by the Auckland District Licensing Committee.
But he said he wasn’t happy with the result and would appeal.
“I’ve got my lawyer looking at it at the moment,” he said.
Both the Counties Manukau Police and Auckland Council liquor licensing inspector Derek Haddy were approached for comment.
