Liquor licence plans withdrawn
Plans for yet another bottle store near Palmerston North’s city centre have been scotched after an outpouring of public opposition.
Communities Against Alcohol Harm are claiming a victory after 373 people lodged objections against the application for a liquor licence for a Bottle-O store.
The Millenium Ltd application was for a site at 260 Church St, close to the Salvation Army charity store, childcare centres and churches, opposite the Railway Land Reserve and skate park and within sight of several other licensed premises.
Council chief customer officer Kerry-Lee Probert confirmed the application was withdrawn late last week. Friday was the last day to file objections.
Communities Against Alcohol Harm advocate Liz Gordon said people had made it clear that they did not want a new liquor shop in such a high-profile location. And Palmerston North MP Tangi Utikere, who lodged an objection, said the withdrawal was a huge win for the local community.
“It shows when people are concerned about an issue, they can send a very strong message.”
He said he would not object to every liquor application. “I don’t object for objection’s sake. But this was a dumb suggestion.”
Meantime, Gordon and Utikere were still waiting to hear if there would be a hearing of objections to another application, for a Thirsty Liquor licence for an outlet at the
Roslyn shopping centre on Vogel St. It had attracted 185 objections, many through Communities Against Alcohol Harm’s online Jotform process.
“With a large number of objections too at Roslyn, it is possible that the view is that there are now quite enough liquor stores in the city,” Gordon said.
“Most of these are in the areas of highest deprivation, and there is a need now for a change in policy and practice in regards to liquor stores. The law says that alcohol harm needs to be minimised, and the challenge is how to do this.”
She and Utikere were both concerned about moves by the council to stop requiring licence applications to be published as public notices in newspapers.
Probert said the move by council staff was intended to make the process simpler and cheaper for applicants, and was in line with Sale and Supply of Alcohol Regulations.
The applications would still be displayed on the public notices section of the council website and at the location for which the licence or renewal was sought.
“We are working with applicants to make these notices more prominent (larger and in colour).”
The council had also enabled subscriptions so people could receive alerts when new public notices were posted. Utikere said it could be a backward step. He said notices should be displayed where they were easy to see, not tucked away where people had to have the time and knowledge to go looking for them. “Members of the public need easy access to know what’s happening.”
Gordon said the council had a responsibility to ensure that the notifications, dates and information were readily available.
“The website needs a proper licence notification page, like Christchurch, which provides all the information an objector needs. And it also needs to make these applications available on request to people wishing to object. Our work on the Roslyn and Church street applications has shown that lots of people want to object to new off-licences, given the knowledge and opportunity. The council needs to do what it can to make the process visible and transparent.”