Record numbers in fight against Bay booze store

The proposed Bethlehem Super Liquor store. Image/Supplied

Bethlehem residents have gone on the warpath against the proposed new bottle store, saying the area needed a new liquor outlet like a hole in the head.

The 570 people opposing the bottle store was the most objectors to a liquor licence application that Western Bay's licensing coordinator Sergeant Nigel McGlone had seen in his eight years on the job. The previous record was 104 objectors.

Bethlehem needs another liquor outlet like it needs a hole in the head.

Julian Webb

Sergeant McGlone was giving evidence to yesterday's District Licensing Committee hearing on an application by Aucklander Pankaj Goel to open a Super Liquor outlet on Bethlehem's main road shopping strip.

"It is a well established fact that the higher the density of liquor outlets in an area, the more likely it is that an increase in alcohol-related harm will occur," he said.

About 30 residents were at the hearing before the committee chaired by Murray Clearwater. The other committee members were ex-city councillors Mary Dillon and David Stewart.

Objector Julian Webb called for common sense, saying 99 per cent of Bethlehem residents did not want a fifth liquor outlet. "Bethlehem needs another liquor outlet like it needs a hole in the head."

He questioned the claim made by Mr Goel that the Super Liquor outlet would be making about $45,000 a week after its first year of trading. Mr Webb said he had only ever seen one person in the new Liquorland bottle store as he walked past.

Craig Shearer, the liquor licensing consultant acting for Mr Goel said that nearly all the objections were identical, using the same words and format, and was best described as a petition.

"An objection form was delivered to a large number of residents...accompanied by an emotive document with misleading information encouraging them to oppose the application.

He said it was very unfortunate that phrases like "do you want your Bethlehem to be like South Auckland" were used and there was no foundation to the claim that another liquor store would put more cheap alcohol onto the street.

Expert witnesses called by Mr Goel put the case that the bottle store would be catering to Bethlehem's older demographic and not engaging in price wars.

Justification for the extra outlet included that Bethlehem's population had more than doubled between 2001-13 and growth forecasts for the next 40 years were for another 1100 homes in Bethlehem and 560 homes in Bethlehem West.

Objector David Flatt compared Bethlehem with central Tauranga's other shopping centres. He said Brookfield and Greerton each had three liquor outlets, Cherrywood, Gate Pa and Fraser Cove each had two outlets and the CBD had one.

Talking about the growth in Bethlehem's liquor outlets from one to four since Countdown opened, Mr Flatt said: "We have gone from the sublime to the ridiculous."

The hearing continued today.

The population case for another retail liquor outlet in Bethlehem

*Average population per liquor outlet in the Western Bay: 1468 (108 off-licences)
*Population per outlet in Bethlehem based on current 4 off-licenses: 1818
*Population per outlet in Bethlehem with 5th outlet: 1454

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