Bars question one-way door proposal
Palmerston North’s third attempt at drafting a local alcohol policy continues to draw objections from all sides.
Supermarket chains are challenging the proposed 9pm closing for off-licences, the bars think a one-way door system from 2am to 3am is risky, and police and public health advocates say the policy does not go far enough.
The council’s community development committee heard submissions from 10 of the 33 submitters on version three of the draft plan yesterday.
Its first attempt at a policy was suspended while clashes with rules in the city’s District Plan were resolved.
The second had a focus on bars, proposing 2am closing.
After considering submissions, the council turned the focus to pre-loading, and proposed bottle stores and supermarkets should close an hour earlier.
The 3am closing time for bars came with the compromise of closing the doors to new patrons at 2am and allowing those already on the premises to stay another hour.
Owner of The Fish, The Celtic and Bubbles, Gary Wright, and advocate Chris Hince spoke on behalf of the central city bars.
Hince said the one-way door was a ‘‘feel-good’’ idea, but did not seem to be supported by research. ‘‘It’s a blunt instrument.’’ One of the difficulties was that groups of people, or anyone who had stepped out of the premises for a smoke or fresh air, might get locked out and separated from friends. That could leave vulnerable people out on their own, outside the bars with other people who might be angry or frustrated about not being allowed in.
Wright said he was not necessarily opposed to the one-way system, but it would need more research about how to manage it safely.
He preferred the way the system worked in the Regent Arcade, where the bars closed at different
‘‘We are struggling to understand this, because people buy to front-load before 9pm.’’
Paul Radich
Woolworths times so people did not all leave at the same time and try to get a taxi.
Foodstuffs North Island lawyer Iain Thain said the council’s attempt to tackle pre-loading by stopping alcohol sales from offlicences at 9pm was not backed by local evidence.
He said alcohol sales in Palmerston North between 8pm and 9pm were already lower than the New Zealand average, and the majority of those sales were from bottle stores rather than supermarkets.
For Woolworths, national alcohol responsibility manager
Paul Radich said 10pm closing would be acceptable, but 9pm was too early. ‘‘We are struggling to understand this, because people buy to front-load before 9pm.’’
Manawatu¯ police, the Midcentral District Health Board’s public health service, Te Hiringa Hauora-health Promotion Agency and Alcohol Healthwatch wanted the council to go further with its restrictions to reduce alcohol harm.
Councillors are expected to consider the submissions and a final draft of the local alcohol policy in March.