‘It’s a bit big’: Council mistake causes liquor ban to expire in New Plymouth city center

By Robin Martin of RNZ

New Plymouth bar owners say they have noticed more rebellious behavior in the city since a council mistake meant the city’s liquor ban can no longer be enforced.

An amendment to the Local Government Act required all councils to review their alcohol control statutes, and if they did not, they would automatically expire in December 2018.

The council says its review “failed” and that it “regrets the slip.”

The ban on alcoholic beverages was introduced in 2010 after the number of serious robberies in the city center spiraled out of control, and there have been more attacks in recent weeks.

Crowded House Bar and Cafe co-owner Doc van Praagh said it was disappointing that the ban had expired.

“Obviously someone has dropped the ball, but it’s not great because we have

people on the street drinking across the street.

“Security is watching them drinking and the police can’t do anything about it, you know. Actually, it’s kind of important.”

Van Praagh said his security personnel brought the problem to his attention.

“That’s when I called the council and said ‘do you know this is happening?’ and they said ‘oh yeah’ so I think they’ve been a little quiet about it, embarrassed about it.

“And obviously there has been an uptake and a bit of deception in CBD since it happened and that’s why we brought it in to tidy up the place and make everyone feel safe.”

Across town, David Stones, who owns three bars in the Puke Ariki district, said he had noticed an increase in the number of people drinking in the city as well.

“There are people drinking and there always have been and even with the ban on alcoholic beverages. There always will be. But sadly now that it’s coming out and people know it. [the lapsed bylaw] we can see that it is slowly recovering.

“But at the end of the day, even with the ban on alcoholic beverages, there are some scoundrels who do it anyway, let’s be honest.”

He was willing to forgive the council.

“The council is a big animal and they also make mistakes. And this is just a simple mistake, but an important one in which they have been wrong and I am sure that the powers will unite and put it back on track because entering summer, entering December , the police need it and we in the hospitality industry definitely need this liquor ban. “

The CBD folks had mixed opinions on the mistake.

Sean said police had charged him in the past for drinking CBD. “If I had known that he had the legal legs to support me, he would have caused a scandal.”

Brendan Wright thought the council should have been more transparent on the issue. “It should probably be reported to the public. I had no idea it had expired.”

A woman who preferred not to give her name was willing to give the council a break. “People make mistakes as long as they correct it now. That’s fine by me.”

Christine was less understanding. “I think they need to improve their game.”

Delane Campbell could sense an opportunity. “Oh, that means we can drink in town. Old school.”

New Plymouth Mayor Neil Holdom said the council had no choice but to take the criticism with its chin.

“Clearly a mistake has been made and, look, we can go through an autopsy, but the reality is that when things go wrong, it’s about what you do to fix it and we can do it quickly.

“That is the goal now of working with the community to see what they want us to do and if we need to put a new statute, see if we can do it before Christmas.”

When asked why the public had not been informed of the expired statute, Holdom said the question was best directed at the board’s chief executive, before drawing an analogy with another recently expired statute.

“Let’s be clear, the skateboard [ban] elapsed. We go out and announce that? No. We just think the community is quite mature. That’s cool because I actually kind of like kids on skateboards. I think it’s amazing and adults on skateboards. And as a society, I think we just matured. “

Holdom said he would like to see a time when a ban on alcoholic beverages is unnecessary and it is perfectly acceptable to have a picnic with a glass of wine on the city beach.

Police told RNZ that questions about how many people had been charged, fined or warned for violating the statute, although it was not enforceable, would be treated as an Official Information Law request.

Police were also unable to say whether the charges or fines would be dropped or reimbursed.

– RNZ