Push to close booze shops earlier
Action group wants council proposals to go further
Anew policy is proposing to change the time alcohol can be purchased from stores in Tauranga. The move is welcomed by an alcohol harm reduction advocate, but he warns it does not go far enough.
Tauranga City Council is revising its Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) and is proposing to change the times retail outlets (off-license premises) can start to sell alcohol from 7am to 10am.
Alcohol Action New Zealand chairman Dr Tony Farrell said there was evidence of reduced harm from alcohol with outlets not opening until 10am, but he said not changing the closing time from 10pm was “really problematic”.
The alcohol law reform advocacy group wants to see the closing time changed to 9pm.
“Most of the harm from the liberal accessibility of alcohol comes after 9pm,” Farrell said.
He pointed to the evidence provided in Alcohol Healthwatch’s submission to the council on the LAP.
The submission said 10am was “not an unreasonable” opening time and referenced Scotland’s alcohol sale hours that start at 10am as a good example. “Although our average consumption is less than the Scots, we see no reason why a similar approach could not be adopted here,” it said.
“A later opening hour will restrict the accessibility of alcohol to those with alcohol dependence.
“Social service providers in New Zealand have previously described to us the negative impact of early opening hours on people with alcohol dependence.”
Research in Russia showed that the introduction of later opening hours was associated with reduced alcohol use, but that the magnitude of the effects of restricting the closing hour was 3.5 to four times stronger than the effects of later opening hours, the submission said.
Farrell, who is also a GP in Mount Maunganui, said the later start was a “good thing”.
“But as we have often witnessed around harm minimisation measures for alcohol in New Zealand, it is just tinkering around the edges,” he said.
“They should be restricting the hours at the end of the day to 9pm.”
According to the Law Commission report “Alcohol In Our Lives: Curbing The Harm”, off-license premises sell around 75 per cent of all alcohol in New Zealand. Of that, 43 per cent is from liquor stores and 32 per cent from supermarkets.
Supermarkets would be most affected by the change, with the majority opening at 7am or 8am. Most liquor stores in Tauranga open between 9am and 10am.
Foodstuffs North Island supported the alcohol sale hours set by the Government in the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, which was 7am-11pm, said Foodstuffs NZ head of public relations Emma Wooster.
The co-operative owns New World, Pak’nsave and Four Square supermarkets.
“Our stores operate within Tauranga City Council’s maximum offlicence trading hours, which are 7am10pm,” said Wooster.
“All our stores open before 10am, so if the proposal goes ahead, this will impact customers who come in before then and want to buy beer and wine when they do their shop with us.”
The draft policy was adopted at the council strategy, finance and risk committee meeting on Monday.
During the meeting, city council commissioner Bill Wasley pointed out the discrepancy between clubs
and on-licence premises being able to open at 9am but off-licences being restricted to 10am.
“I really wonder . . . whether that’s appropriate, given there are earlier opening hours for other types of premises,” said Wasley.
Commissioner Stephen Selwood said he did not support the draft policy “as it stands” and referenced his previous comments about the limited effectiveness of LAPS.
He showed a photo of his local dairy in Mount Maunganui that had a sign out front that said, beer, wine, groceries, ice-blocks.
“We’re not seeing a lot of drunks hanging out the front of that shop for
want of that sign or promotion or anything like that,” said Selwood.
“That’s just a little anecdote but it symbolises, for me, the issues that we’re trying to deal with here and the practicality of putting in these rules and regulations.”
He said that under the new policy the sign probably would not comply
and the store would also be required to install cameras.
Commission chair Anne Tolley said: “For me, the problem is that alcohol is signposted alongside ice blocks.
“For most of us, that probably isn’t a problem, but for those who are vulnerable, living in that community, that is not great.
“I don’t want to stop them purchasing . . . but [we’re] just trying to put some controls on it.
“And if that sign doesn’t comply, I for one would be delighted.”
Other conditions placed on offlicensed premises through the policy include restrictions on the display of product or price specials, the installation and operation of CCTV cameras on the exterior and within premises, and restrictions on the display of RTDS at the principal entrance to the store or within three metres of the front window.
The policy is also proposing that no new on-licensed premises be established in areas zoned industrial in the City Plan and no new licences be issued for bottle stores located within suburbs with a social deprivation index of seven or more.
The draft policy was adopted by a majority vote, with Selwood and Wasley voting against it. Public consultation on the policy will run from August 16 to September 16.