Police must have better things to do

BOWLING clubs are the latest target for police objections to the renewal of liquor licences.

In Wellington, up to 12 community bowling clubs applied to renew their licences recently, but all were objected to.

Bowls Wellington chairman Mark O’Connor, also president of the Whitby Bowling Club, says it is bizarre.

In something of an ironic statement, Mr O’Connor says the notification came out of the blue. The only communication the club had was from the council, which advised the police objected to the renewal of the licence on grounds of hours of operation.

This appears to be a blanket opposition to several bowling clubs and could also spread to squash and tennis clubs.

While the action is confined to Wellington, Otago has had its own problems with police taking action against liquor licences.

Two years ago, the police said the Omakau trots were not up to scratch for a special alcohol licence.

For the second successive year, the police opposed an application for a special licence covering the Central Otago Trotting Club’s 52nd Omakau meeting set for January 2017.

The police said, at the time, they had several concerns. They were not confident the applicant was experienced in operating licensed premises or in the hospitality industry and there did not appear to be suitably trained staff in support.

Police had serious misgivings about the way the day would be handled.

Too often, authorities take it upon themselves to try to influ ence the behaviour of society when really there is no justification. Take for instance the situation with Dunedin soft drinks company Wests (NZ) Ltd and Oamaru cheese maker Whitestone Cheese. Both wanted offlicences to sell alcohol but the nature of their businesses meant they did not fit the criteria set under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.

Wests director Alf Loretan was trying to regain a liquor licence since it was stripped in a controversial case in 2016. At the time, a medical officer of health expressed concern about the layout of the store, which allowed younger customers to be exposed to alcohol advertising and products. The contentious point was secondary school pupils buying soft drinks from Wests and seeing the alcohol on display, something which had occurred for generations without any bother.

In the case of Whitestone Cheese, the company wanted to sell packages of wine and cheese both online and at the factory shop. To qualify for an offlicence, the company needed at least 85% of its sales to be alcohol. Given Whitestone Cheese makes and sells cheese, that is impossible. All the company wanted to do was add something extra for its customers — it could have even been North Otago wine.

National MP Chris Bishop calls Wellington Police overzealous and heavyhanded in objecting to the liquor licence renewals of bowling clubs in the region.

New Zealanders should be able to enjoy a beer or two with friends at their local bowling club, and for many years they have done so without incident.

It is not like the police have nothing else to do. Dairies are being robbed, owners threatened and, in some cases, injured or killed as criminals target tobacco.

Crime in Dunedin is starting to make people feel unsafe. And while some of the crime is fuelled by alcohol, it is not people in bowling or other clubs catering for older people causing the late night mayhem.

If the Wellington police get their way with the city’s bowling clubs, chances are the rest of the country will find themselves in a similar situation.

Police do have a tough job dealing with alcoholrelated crime but targeting bowling clubs and other sports clubs is not the way to tackle the issue. A better approach for police is to target individual clubs with a history of alcoholrelated incidents.

A blanket ban, with widespread implications, will not endear the police to anyone.