Bar gets the go ahead to open in ‘hospitality area’

Anjuna Beer Garden bar owner Ben McCann has been given permission to open. Picture by Liam Clayton

Confirmed temporary location of kura a factor in decision

A Gisborne bar has been granted permission to set up shop just a few doors down from a kaupapa Māori school, despite strong opposition at a recent hearing.

Anjuna Beer Garden will open on the city’s main street near Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Hawaiki Hou, which highlighted a number of concerns to the Gisborne District Licensing Committee.

The kura has operated at an address on Gladstone Road for five years and expressed concerns the bar would create an unsafe environment for young people.

It hoped the application would be declined because of a section of the local alcohol policy which restricts the issuing of licences based on proximity to sensitive sites which exist at the time of the application.

But on May 8, the licensing committee approved Ben McCann’s application for a restaurant and bar, saying the building had been a hospitality venue for many years.

It said the new establishment gave new life to a heritage building that might otherwise face demolition, and deemed the location to be “very much within the hospitality area of the city”.

“The committee is aware of the conditions of the Gisborne Local Alcohol Policy but in the circumstances of the school’s current and confirmed temporary location, do not consider that Section 3.1.1 of the Local Alcohol Policy should deny the applicant the opportunity to reopen what has been for almost 30 years a hospitality establishment,” the licensing committee decision read.

The issuing of the licence goes against the recommendation of Gisborne District Council licence inspector Vincenzo Petrella.

At last month’s hearing, Petrella said although the applicant stated the principal purpose of the business was food, it had become clear through the hearing process it was actually alcohol.

The applicant had advised  food would be provided from the kitchen that currently operates Neptunes Pizzeria next door — a business located within the building.

“The premises has a robust host responsibility policy, and the principal purpose of the business is to be food,” this week’s decision read.

Some work was still required to complete the fit-out of the building, the committee said, and the applicant needed to know if the premises would secure a licence before spending further funds on internal issues.

McCann defended the bar’s location near the kura, saying the latter was already within close proximity of other on-licence premises.

“I have signed a lease for the entire building, including the kitchen that Neptune’s (pizzeria) is operating out of,” he said.

“The liquor licence hours are not intended as the business’s opening hours.”

The committee received four individual objections to the application, but one of those was deemed not valid.

An objection is only received if it comes from someone the committee deems to have a greater interest in the application than a general member of the public.

The three objections came from people associated with Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Hawaiki Hou.

The kura operates outside of school hours on occasion, with overnight wānanga for children and whānau.