Police call for liquor ban to be widened
Nelson police are calling for an extension of the city’s CBD liquor ban, to stop people ‘‘side-loading’’ from cars, carparks and other areas on nights out.
Alcohol harm prevention officer Sergeant Steve Savage told Nelson city councillors that adjusting the ban’s boundaries and times would help to reduce alcohol-related crime and increase the public’s feelings of safety.
It would also reduce antisocial behaviour and alcoholrelated rubbish in the CBD, he said.
‘‘Having the current boundary of Collingwood St doesn’t work, as there are bars in the same area which are not in the liquor ban area. It encourages public place drinking, side-loading and pre-loading.’’
He said the Little Rock and Fresh Choice carparks were not included in the current ban and were common places for public drinking, leaving the police powerless to do anything unless there was disorder.
Savage presented the police’s submission on extending the ban to the Nelson City Council as part of its hearing of submissions on the draft urban environments bylaw yesterday.
Police are asking the council to extend the liquor ban to include the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Collingwood St, Hardy St and Tasman St.
Unlike the rest of the CBD, where there is a 24-hour ban, the ban in the extended area would only need to be enforced between 9pm and 7am, Savage said.
Little Rock bar owner Ron Taylor and Fresh Choice supermarket owner Mark A’Court also made submissions to the council in support of extending the ban to include their premises.
Savage said that due to recent changes, people did not get a conviction for breaching a liquor ban. They were given infringement notices instead, although police still had the power to arrest them.
He said a common myth about liquor bans was that people could not have any alcohol in the area, preventing the transportation of alcohol from a shop to a home.. The bans were actually about stopping drinking in public places.
In the draft bylaw, the council has proposed extending the ban to Victory Square and Wigzell Park, for 24 hours a day.
Currently there is no ban in place for Wigzell Park, and Victory Square has a ban from 9pm to 7am only.
Savage said police supported the move to extend the ban to Victory Square, and he requested that it include the shops and streets surrounding the square.
He said alcoholrelated crime around the square was on the rise, and the police and the council needed to ‘‘nip it in the bud’’.
Callouts to the area for alcohol-related crimes and disorder had increased, and thefts from shops had also increased.
Savage said 184 of the 244 calls made to police last year about crime in the area were made between 7am and 9pm.
He said police did not receive many callouts to the Wigzell Park area about alcohol-related crime, but if the ban was extended in Victory, crime ‘‘migration’’ to Wigzell Park could become an issue.
Carolyn and Raymond Necklen, who live next to Wigzell Park, told councillors they supported its inclusion in the extended 24-hour ban area. They said they had seen lengthy and noisy all-day drinking sessions at the park.
Carolyn Necklen said the park should be promoted as a familyfriendly area.
She said 14- to 17-year-olds often gathered in the park, but they were having a good time, not drinking. An increase in the number of adults drinking there could influence the teenagers.
At the end of the hearings, Councillor Kate Fulton asked staff whether the alcohol ban would need to go out for a second round of public consultation if it was to be extended to include more of the CBD.
Staff will bring the information to a future planning and regulatory meeting, where councillors will deliberate on the hearings.