Latest news with #CommunityAgainstAlcoholHarm
Scoop
6 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Auckland Council Defends Alcohol Rule Shakeup
Auckland's tougher liquor laws needed to be implemented after 10 years of legal battles, otherwise the work could have been in vain, the council says. Auckland Council is defending its Local Alcohol Policy (LAP), implemented last year, following recent criticism from a legal expert who said it was quickly becoming outdated. Drafted in 2013, the LAP outlines the location, amount, and trading hours for alcohol businesses in the region. The new rules included a two-year freeze on new off-licences in the central city and 23 other suburbs with the highest alcohol-related harm. Concerns were raised on a possible 'technical error', because the LAP was connected to an older version of the Unitary Plan which only protected neighbourhood centres that existed in 2013, from proliferation of bottle shops. However, Auckland Council policy general manager Louise Mason said there was a reason for linking the LAP to the 2013 Unitary Plan, and it wasn't a technical error. "Linking the policy to the current version of the unitary plan - adopted in 2016 - would have meant starting the entire process again," Mason said. "That would have likely led to further court proceedings, and another round of lengthy legal battles. This would have risked delaying the policy further or possibly preventing it from coming in at all." Dr Grant Hewison, a lawyer who works with Community Against Alcohol Harm (CAAH) in south Auckland, called for an early review of the LAP because new neighbourhood centres that have since popped up since 2013 weren't being protected. He said recent decisions by the licensing district proved this when new off-licences were granted at three new neighbourhood centres because they were out of the scope of the 2013 Unitary Plan. According to the LAP, neighbourhood centres were commercial centres within residential areas. Hewison also raised concerns over the end of a two-year freeze in 2026 on new off-licences in the central city and 23 other suburbs with the highest alcohol-related harm. He said the LAP was now relatively an older document. Mason said communities had been asking for the LAP for a long time, so the decision was made to continue with what had already been developed in 2012, rather than starting all over again. Once the temporary freeze ends, the DLC should work on the presumption that any application for an off-licence in these areas should continue to be rejected, she said. "This is already happening in some neighbourhoods and, so far, seems to be working." Council staff were monitoring how the policy was working in its first year, she said. "[This] including the off-licence freeze - and will report back to the mayor and councillors in early 2026."
Scoop
18-07-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Warning On End Of Auckland's Alcohol Licence Freeze
Auckland's local alcohol policy (LAP) is fast becoming outdated according to one legal expert. The LAP, which outlines the location, amount, and trading hours for alcohol businesses in the region, was implemented last September. Drafted in 2013, it took 10 years to get it approved after it was tied up in legal battles. Dr Grant Hewison, a lawyer who works with Community Against Alcohol Harm (CAAH) in south Auckland, was concerned that parts of the LAP was losing its relevance, today. Presenting to the Safety and Regulatory Committee of the Auckland Council this week, Hewison warned that a raft of new liquor licenses could be on the way. "The temporary freeze in the priority overlay areas will stop next year." Hewison added that assuming there would remain a high bar to new licenses may not be a robust enough position. "My concern is that that may not be sufficient to really address the ongoing proliferation that we're still seeing outside of those priority overlay areas in parts of the region," he said. The LAP came into effect in two stages - the first change was September 16, 2024 which included a two-year freeze on new off-licences in the central city and 23 other suburbs with the highest alcohol-related harm. He urged the committee to consider reviewing the LAP, before the two-year freeze lapsed. "The freeze will end in 2026 so you have a small window of opportunity looking to extend it. "I really encourage you to take some advice from your officers and have a briefing on how this temporary freeze operates, and the consequences of it being lifted." He also urged council to look into protecting neighbourhood centres better, in what he called was a 'technical error' in the LAP. According to the LAP, there was a rebbutable presumption for off-licence outlets in neighbourhood centres. Neighbourhood centres are commercial centres within residential areas. "Unfortunately, the drafting of the neighbourhood centre in the LAP links it to the Unitary Plan, as notified in 2013." He said the LAP only protected neighbourhood centres that existed in 2013 under the Unitary Plan. "Since then, we've had developments of paddocks and fields ... new neighbourhood centres that aren't protected by the LAP." He said the the consequence of that was that the District Licensing Committee recently approved three new liquor outlets in new neighbourhood centres. "I don't think the community and yourselves ever intended that the LAP only protected neighbourhood centres as they were in 2013." He pleaded for council not to wait for six years to review the LAP, but to act sooner. "I think its urgent, and there is provision under section 95 of the Act to make amendments to a LAP to correct what is essentially a minor technical error." Hewison said a lot of work went into the drafting of the LAP, but it was now relatively an older document.
