Call to introduce blanket liquor ban in Marfell
A New Plymouth woman is campaigning to have a liquor ban imposed on Marfell, one of the city’s poorest suburbs.
Marfell community coordinator Kuvarji, who goes by one name, found half-full cans of alcohol at Marfell’s new basketball courts about 11⁄2 months after the courts were opened.
She said she put up a Facebook live post on the Marfell Community Trust page. ‘‘I told them to put their stuff away because it was where our babies could pick it up and drink it.’’
The ban, which would have to be put in place by New Plymouth District Council, would encompass the entire Marfell suburb, preventing people from consuming alcohol on streets and in public places, including the school and kindergarten.
It’s not the first time alcohol has been considered a problem in Marfell. In 2011, a High Court ruling prevented a liquor store opening on Sunley St, overturning a Liquor Licensing Authority decision to grant Shree Sai Holdings Ltd a licence to operate the Sai Wholesale Liquor off-licence in the Borrell Ave industrial area, near Marfell. In its ruling the High Court said the authority had failed to consider the object of the Sale of Liquor Act 1989 in granting the licence, which aims to contribute to the reduction of liquor abuse. Kuvarji said the proposed ban was discussed at the Marfell Pathways meeting, where residents, stakeholders and volunteers discuss the issues of the area. ‘‘They were in support of it,’’ she said.
She asked local residents how many would like to have it in place, and received more than 300 signatures, she said.
She spoke to the police community liaison committee at the council last week, and it was in the process of looking at available options, she said.
She doesn’t believe it will fix all alcohol-fuelled issues but ‘‘it will at least enable us as residents of Marfell the opportunity to keep ourselves and our families safe [from] those who don’t wish to engage with it.
‘‘One of them said ‘it gives us the power to choose what our family and our children are surrounded by’.’’
Many people were wanting to make a positive change for their future and their children, but couldn’t walk down to the shop on Saturday afternoon without coming across alcohol, she said. ‘‘It happens all the time and it’s just the culture; it’s the culture and the example that they’re setting for our young ones.’’
Marfell advocates Ryan and Pauline Johnstone say a liquor ban is a great idea for the suburb. ‘‘It’s actually not the right place to be drinking or have their drink there when we’ve got kids there,’’ Pauline said.