The Big Barrel liquor empire – made up of 49 different outlets across much of New Zealand, Christchurch excluded - will not be pursuing its bid to move into the Christchurch area for the time being, they informed the City Council licensing authorities on Friday.

The business was attempting to take advantage of two of the empty premises vacated by Nekita Enterprises when the liquor baron lost its licences over exploitative labour practices.

The empty premises were in Wainoni and Linwood, some of the most deprived areas of Christchurch.

Big Barrel principal Palwinder Singh was challenged by Community Action on Youth and Drugs (CAYAD) worker Paul McMahon on his practice of selling cheap, high alcohol singles into poor and deprived areas, noting that these cause huge alcohol-related harm. Mr McMahon took posters of the cheap cans along to a meeting in Christchurch and confronted Mr Singh.

“This is a big win for the East,” said McMahon, “both these sites were entirely inappropriate and have been a source of harm and disorder for a long time. It shows what happens when communities mobilise and are supported by the Licensing Inspector, Medical Officer of Health, and Police.”

Dr. Liz Gordon, legal advisor for Communities Against Alcohol Harm (CAAH), told Mr Singh that there was heavy opposition to the company moving into Christchurch on the heels of the collapse of Nekita Enterprises.

“We have enough problems of our own without having to fight off a new company wanting to sell even more harmful alcohol into our poorest communities”, she said. “We told them we would oppose them to the best of our abilities”.

She said the law was on their side. “The law does not like people who have no knowledge of an area trying to move in and start a liquor store. This is even more the case when the area is deprived and there is significant vulnerability and alcohol harm”.

She noted that Big Barrel withdrew because it was made clear to them there was widespread opposition.

“At the meeting Palwinder Singh talked about his dream to open a specialist whisky store. We told him that Wainoni was not the place to do it.

Dr Gordon said the meeting was amicable and the outcome “excellent”. She said that three of the old Nekita stores remain empty and there was a lot of determination around town that they never open as liquor stores again.

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