Invercargill City Council’s new Licensing Alcohol Policy (LAP), which affects the way alcohol is sold and supplied in the city, partially comes into effect on August 30.

The LAP was made under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 to allow for local views around alcohol to be considered, said Council’s Legal Advisor Michael Morris.

“This is our first alcohol policy under the new Act. We chose to implement the LAP because it adds further community input as to where alcohol can be sold, and the manner in which alcohol is sold. It is a combined policy between us and the Gore and Southland District Councils.”

There are three provisions in the Policy. The first provision, effective from August 30 2016, affects the location of licensed facilities near sensitive premises (such as schools, childcare facilities and religious organisations).

The second provision, effective from 7 December 2016, affects trading hours of licensed facilities. This limits on-licence facilities (e.g. bars, taverns, night clubs) in the Invercargill CBD to operating between 8am and 3am, and those outside of the CBD between 8am to 1am. Off-licence facilities (e.g. bottle stores) are limited to operating between 7am and 11pm.

The final provision affects discretionary conditions and is effective from 30 August 2016. These are a list of conditions that the District Licensing Committee may impose on the applications of licences; including on-licences, off-licences, club licences (e.g. sporting clubs), and special licences (events).

A focus group which included key stakeholders was formed in 2013 to draft an LAP. Following this the draft LAP was advertised and consultation resulted in 585 submissions in early 2014. The provisional local alcohol policy was adopted in September 2014 and two appeals were received in December 2014. The Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority approved the LAP in May 2016 and it was then adopted by Council.

“If people are unsure of requirements, they can talk to us,” Mr Morris said. “We will be writing to everyone affected by the trading hours and setting out the LAP and what it means for them.”

Related information
Alcohol licensing