A North Dunedin bottle store in the student quarter has agreed to close an hour earlier after facing a backlash.
Bottle-O Cumberland originally applied to increase its off-licence hours to 9am until 10pm each day.
Currently, its hours vary from 10am to 8pm on Monday and Tuesday, 10am to 10pm on Wednesday to Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sunday.
The Dunedin City Council’s district licensing committee held a hearing on the application on Thursday, receiving opposition from the University of Otago Proctor, police, a Ministry of Health delegate, the Chief Licensing Inspector, and a member of the public.
They raised concerns about the extended hours might undermine the Local Alcohol Policy’s aim to reduce alcohol related harm
Acting Sergeant Chelsea Didham said the student population was regarded as a vulnerable community to the effects of alcohol harm.
“Statistically, the peak hours for alcohol related harm astronomically skyrocket after 9pm and don’t slow down until about 3am the following day,” Didham said.
“It’s widely known that the student quarters are a hive for alcohol-related activities, which brings with it a high proportion of alcohol-related harm.”
Company director Brendan McCarthy told the hearing that he agreed with their evidence that harm spiked after 9pm in a high risk area, saying there were definitely more people denied service closer to closing.
He amended his application to close at 9pm instead.
“The change resolves all agencies concerns and also creates a safer outcome for the community as a reduction from the current licence which permits 10pm closing on four nights a week, which I deem are the more harmful nights of the week,” McCarthy said.
He sought to extend the closing time on Sundays because local customers kept complaining the store closed too early, he said.
The police submission also questioned the suitability of applicant’s shareholders Patricia and Kenneth McCarthy who previously failed to have their off-licences renewed due to non-compliance.
The submission said Patricia McCarthy was also discharged without conviction last year after pleading guilty to one charge of selling alcohol to an unlicensed person. She was also fined $20,000 earlier this year for the unjust dismissal of an employee and upheld a personal grievance that she bullied and harassed them.
Didham said that when the application was made, Patricia McCarthy was a director and shareholder of the company Kitt Enterprises, but she was removed as a director in August and replaced by her son, Brendan McCarthy, Didham said.
Police were notified in October that Patricia and Kenneth McCarthy would not exercise any control or authority in decision making or trading, she said.
Brendan McCarthy said he had been the sole operator of the store over the past 20 years and the only things the shareholders, his parents, had done for the company was payroll which he had already taken over more than a year ago.
Public submitter Scott Stücki said McCarthy never would have asked for the initial extended hours if he understood the vulnerabilities of the community.
In North Dunedin, alcohol related harm was extremely common and the harm was commonly extreme, he said.
Stücki urged the committee to remember its responsibility to minimise the harm this vulnerable community faced.
Chief Licensing Inspector Tania Morrison told the hearing she was pleased to see the proposed change in hours, but questioned why the store sought to open an hour earlier at 9am.
“Given the locality of students, I would be surprised if there was an influx of customers that early in the morning,” she said.
She confirmed that a site visit earlier this year, checking the incident log and touring the store including the back areas where there was an extensive security system in place.
“We’re quite impressed with the systems in place and the knowledge of Mr McCarthy at the time,” she said.
Medical officer of health delegate Aaron Whipp agreed that the amended trading hours supported the minimisation of harm, but raised concerns about the extended Sunday trading hours.
The committee reserved its decision.
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