Struggling party zone bears brunt of licence opposition
Bar owners in Wellington’s struggling party zone say there may not be much nightlife left if health authorities keep opposing bars’ rights to sell alcohol.
Te Whatu Ora Health NZ has released, under the Official Information Act, a list of the 14 liquor licences it has opposed in the past two years across Wellington City, the Hutt Valley, Porirua, and Kāpiti. Eleven of those were in Wellington City – eight in the Courtenay Place precinct.
Te Whatu Ora via email said it had no plans to target the area, saying there just under 200 licensed premises within 500 metres of bar Saint Diablo on Courtenay Place. It has been asked to supply a list.
The Wellington City Council is negotiating a $32 million deal to get the owners of Reading Central in Courtenay Place, closed since a structural report in 2009, to fix the building and reopen it in an effort to rejuvenate the area. But Greig Wilson, who recently spent $20,000 in legal fees to open Saint Diablo, said there may not be much night life to save at the current rate. The list of opposed licences included bars that had since shut and others that were on the verge of closing.
“Courtenay Place has been seen as the jewel in the crown,” he said. “Right now it is in jeopardy.”
Te Whatu Ora could not provide information showing whether Courtenay
Place bars translated to emergency department cases or data showing whether the precinct had more alcohol-related problems.
Police data shows that the block bordered by Tory St and Cambridge Terrace, including the stretch of Courtenay Place and Allen St where six of the eight Courtenay precinct bars are, had 129 reported crimes since the start of December 31, 2022. A similar-sized Cuba St “mesh block” between Dixon and Ghuznee streets had 137 reported crimes in the same stretch. Wellington Free Ambulance could not provide alcohol-related injury data for the Courtenay Place area.
Jose Ubiaga owns four bars in the stretch and had licence renewals opposed by health
■ Love Not Lost and Ace of Spades on Allen St
■ Mishmosh, Saint Diablo, Siglo, Rubix, Back
Alley Sally, and Bliss on Courtenay Place
■ Elixir on Chews Lane
■ Humdinger on Ghuznee St
■ Whisky and Wood on Cambridge Terrace.
■ Metro Sports Bar and the Mariner Bar in Porirua were opposed, as was The Jolly Pub and Kitchen in Kāpiti.
officials the last three times. “I don’t feel they are giving some venues a chance,” he said. The area was struggling and was now “the worst it has ever been”.
But a group of Courtenay Place businesses were now working to “rejuvenate and reactivate” the area, including introducing Friday night buskers.
There were also signs that health authorities were loosening up. Ubiaga recently met with Te Whatu Ora about renewing his licence for The Residence: “He came in and said he wanted to work with us.”
In an emailed statement, Te Whatu Ora said its focus was the future health of communities.
“We take that intent seriously, so when it comes to alcohol harm and the prospective risk of alcohol-related harm to our community, we look closely at how we can improve that,” the statement said.
It worked with police to monitor licences and enforcing liquor licence rules.