A large majority of Wellingtonians don’t want a citywide liquor ban, but Wellington City Council officers do.
The council received 604 written submissions on the proposal to amend the city’s Liquor Control Bylaw, which presented three options: to have a citywide liquor ban, no ban at all, or a ban in specified areas.
Of the submissions, 76% were opposed to a blanket 24/7 liquor ban.
Despite this, officers say because peoples’ concerns about a ban haven’t changed over the years, they have no reason to be swayed from implementing one this time around.
They concede, however, that because of the sheer number of people against it, they will leave it up to the councillors to decide at their Strategy and Policy Committee meeting on Wednesday.
The proposal to amend the bylaw came after complaints about problems with street drinking, mainly in the Newtown area.
Councillor and chair of the meeting, Andy Foster, is not surprised by the consultation results.
“It’s fantastic, because that’s the position I took right from the beginning,” he says. “If we take a step back and look at where this process started, it was from a problem in Newtown. We decided to look at three options, and it was reasonable to look at an overall ban, but I’ve seen no evidence that there are widespread problems over the city that justified a total ban.”
Foster says the law itself is deficient, and says the council will write to Central Government suggesting an amendment.
“The offence is the possession or consumption of alcohol (in a public place), which has little to do with actually causing a problem,” he says. “If we had a liquor ban covering Wellington, it would still be an offence (to drink on a beach, for example). Most people don’t like being in a position where they are breaking the law. We have to find a different offence rather than possession.”
Foster is not sure how the vote will go, but says, “If I were a betting man, I’d go for a ban in Newtown”.
Councillor Iona Pannett is also against a citywide ban. She doesn’t like the idea of “criminalizing” people for the actions of a minority.
“[Wellington Police Area Commander] Peter Cowan talked to us, and said that 95% of [alcohol-related] violence occurs on Courtenay Place,” says Pannett. “The evidence [for a total ban] is just not there.” Councillors said “no” to a (Central Government) National Public Ban last year.”
If councillors vote for a blanket ban, it would be put in place on August 10 – in time for summer, she says.
Councillor John Morrison is undecided about the best option, but says public submissions were “significant in terms of numbers”.
He reckons Wellington will end up with a partial ban in areas such as Newtown or Mount Cook, but he doesn’t support that, and says neither do the police.
“It’s ridiculous to say you can drink on the street in Island Bay, but not in Newtown,” Morrison says. “[It needs to be] all or nothing, otherwise it will make life impossible for everyone.”