Do we have too many bottle stores in Lower Hutt? What hours should supermarkets and other ‘off-licensed’ retail outlets be able to sell alcoholic drinks?
Hutt City Council is reviewing its Local Alcohol Policy (the LAP) are we’re keen to hear from residents, business operators, health and community agencies and hospitality industry stakeholders.
The deadline to have your say is this Friday, 25 August.
Lower Hutt’s LAP is about trying to minimise alcohol-related harm in our city, while balancing fair and reasonable requirements for businesses selling what is a legal product, and one that many people enjoy.
Our hospitality industry employs a lot of people.
HCC was one of the first local authorities in New Zealand to bring in an LAP. It came into force in 2018.
Key features include:
- A cap on the number of off-licensed retailers in six defined parts of the city where police data, hospital admission statistics and other evidence indicated a higher level of alcohol-related harm (Naenae – 4 outlets, Stokes Valley – 3, Taita – 3, Avalon – 1, Hutt Central – 11, Wainuiomata – 6)
- Off-licence trading hours for sale of alcoholic drinks limited to 7am-10pm, Monday-Sunday.
The LAP has other provisions, too, around on-licence (pub, restaurant, etc) premises hours, ‘one-way door’ policies during late night hours, provisions around sports club licences, etc. (Read the current LAP, and all review-related information here – https://www.huttcity.govt.nz/people-and-communities/news/2024/have-your-say-on-lower-hutts-alcohol-rules )
No changes to the geographic spread or number of off-licences subject to the cap are proposed, nor to trading hours.
But have we got that about right?
Would further limiting the number of retail outlets or the hours of off- and on-licences lead to less problem drinking? What do you think?
There’s been publicity recently over Auckland Council’s provisional LAP looking set to come into force, after eight years of protracted legal battles with supermarkets. That LAP proposes supermarkets and bottles stores not be allowed to sell alcohol after 9pm (our LAP allows 10pm).
Auckland is also proposing a two-year freeze on new off-licences in 23 defined areas, and a permanent presumption of granting new off-licences after that.
We’ve also just seen a new report from Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora and University of Otago (based on 2018 data) showing alcohol causes a significant preventable health burden through a range of disease and injury conditions, especially for Māori and males. https://www.hpa.org.nz/research-library/research-publications/estimated-alcohol-attributable-health-burden-in-aotearoa-new-zealand
Key findings are summarised in the image below.
We’re also consulting on lifting the level of fees charged to alcohol sales outlets for administering controls in the city to 100% (i.e. from 90%, the other 10% picked up by general ratepayers), and where we should have alcohol-free zones (beaches, shopping centres, etc).
Find out more: https://www.huttcity.govt.nz/people-and-communities/news/2024/have-your-say-on-lower-hutts-alcohol-rules
- Simon Edwards is the chair of Lower Hutt’s District Licensing Committee and will chair the LAP hearing of submissions.
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