Another step forward for Local Alcohol Policy

After five weeks of deliberations on public submissions the Committee
reviewing the draft Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) will make a number of
recommendations to the incoming Christchurch City Council.

The Committee will recommend to the incoming Council that a provisional
LAP be publicly notified sometime after 18 December 2013, as allowed
under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.

In recommending the provisional LAP, the Committee has made several
changes to the draft policy on which it received more than 4,000
submissions during public consultation. These include:
* Enlarging the proposed area in the Central City with a closing
time of 3:00am for taverns, bars, pubs and clubs
* One-way door policy to be applied at the discretion of the
District Licensing Committee in both central city and suburban centres
* Night clubs will be able to be located in the central city, with
a maximum closing time of 4:00am.
Should the incoming Council decide to notify the provisional LAP, those
who made submissions on the draft policy will have 30 days to make
appeals directly to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority.

Following resolution of any appeals, the policy will take effect three
months after the date chosen by the Council.
Councillor Sue Wells, who chaired the Committee deliberations on the
LAP, says, "The challenge for the Committee has been to distil the wide
range of information and issues presented, while ensuring the LAP sticks
to its core aim of reducing alcohol related harm in the city.
"We are also mindful that our post-earthquake city is still evolving and
that the shape and location of our night life is still to be decided. We
would therefore accept that the policy may well need reviewing within a
short timeframe, to incorporate Christchurch's requirements as it
recovers."
The Committee will meet one final time next week to decide on any
additional recommendations it may wish to make to the incoming Council.

ends

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