Early bar closing moves step closer

Bars closing at 2am and bottle stores and supermarkets stopping alcohol sales at 9pm is moving a step closer to reality in Palmerston North.

The city council is expected to adopt its draft local alcohol policy supporting the changes tomorrow.

The provisional plan will then have to be publicly advertised, and will be open for appeals to the Alcohol Regulatory Licensing Authority from anyone who has made a submission.

It has taken the council seven years and three draft versions of the policy to get to this stage.

An earlier version of the latest draft proposed 3am closing, with a one-way door policy from 2am.

At the most recent council meeting, councillors voted 10-4 in favour of 2am closing for bars, negating the need for the one-way door process.

Those who remained opposed were Rachel Bowen, Renee Dingwall, Billy Meehan and Orphee Mickalad.

Mayor Grant Smith, who had opposed the early closing because he thought it would destroy nightlife and turn the city into a ghost town, changed his vote at the last meeting because he was worried about the levels of violence that seemed to stem from late-night boozing.

Council strategy and policy manager Julie Macdonald said it was not possible to predict at this stage how much time and money it might take for the council to respond to any appeals.

It would depend on the significance and complexity of any issues raised by people appealing, and whether the council would need to pay for legal advice.

It could take as long as a year for the authority to deal with any appeals, and after that, the council would formally adopt the policy. Once it advertised the adoption of the policy, the early closing rules would come into effect three months later, affecting existing licence holders as well as those renewing or applying for new licences.

The council plans to review the policy within two years of it taking effect.