Stores call for ban to rid streets of drunks
Drinking, fighting and aggressive begging has businesses in a Wellington suburb calling for a liquor clampdown.
A community of street drinkers, forced from the central suburbs by a liquor ban, have called Kilbirnie’s main shopping street home in recent years.
The problem – compounded by visible homelessness and mental health issues on the suburb’s Bay Rd – has business owners desperate for their own liquor ban.
Wellington City Council has until December to decide whether to reinstate, reduce or expand its liquor ban, and heard public submissions at a Thursday meeting.
Councillors expanded the liquor ban to cover Mt Cook and Newtown in 2010, and many in Kilbirnie say it simply forced the problem further east.
Thomas Malton, sitting begging outside Instant Finance on Wednesday afternoon, was ‘‘sick of the alkies’’ and agreed a liquor ban was needed.
Malton, who doesn’t drink and is friendly with many business owners, said the drunkenness came early in the week with benefit payments.
‘‘That’s when there’s more alcohol floating around. When there’s no money around on the weekend, it gets worse.’’
The drunkenness frightens Penny, who works behind the counter at Willis Drycleaners and declined to give a last name.
Two benches outside her storefront host a crowd of more than five drinkers most days. ‘‘In summer it’s full, it’s happening, it’s a party spot . . . I’m on my own, I do get scared for my safety.’’
Looking out the window, she watched a familiar face sit down.
‘‘He’s going to sit there and he’s going to start screaming for money and drinks. He’s going to drive me crazy now until closing time.’’
Within a minute of yelling at a passerby, the man was handed some coins.
Liquor Centre owner Binay Jagat said a liquor ban was a smart move. ‘‘This is my business, and I will be the first person to sign up for a liquor ban.’’
He frequently refused to sell alcohol to intoxicated people but said he couldn’t legally refuse some.
‘‘They might send someone else to get booze for them, or go to the supermarket.’’
Jagat acknowledged a liquor ban might again move people further east, to Miramar.
‘‘We need a permanent solution.’’ Architect Bruce Welsh, who supports the ban, is looking for such a solution.
He has organised a Sunday meal for the community since April, and wants to open a drop-in centre with a commercial kitchen for those on the street to gain some skills. ‘‘It’s got to come from the community, not from the politicians. A liquor ban is not going to solve anything, it’s really going to give the police another tool to use.’’
Speaking to councillors on Thursday, Kilbirnie Business Network representative Jo Morris said the drunkenness, along with the parking issues and ongoing
‘‘A liquor ban is not going to solve anything . . .’’ Bruce Welsh