Students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Hawaiki Hou outside the school’s entrance in the main street. Photo / Gisborne Herald
Students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Hawaiki Hou outside the school’s entrance in the main street. Photo / Gisborne Herald
Matthew Rosenberg, Local Democracy reporter
The owner of a Gisborne bar hoping to set up shop in the main street has been met with strong opposition from a Māori kaupapa school operating just a few doors down.
The tension was palpable at a liquor licensing hearing held on Monday at Gisborne District Council, where the nuts and bolts of the bar were dissected by key stakeholders.
Applicant Anjuna Beer Garden hopes to open a new on-licence venue at the site of the former Scotty’s Bar and Grill in Gladstone Rd at the Customhouse St end of the city centre.
The kura (school) has objected to the business opening nearby, citing the Gisborne District Council Local Alcohol Policy, which stipulates no new licences should be granted to locations within 150m of sensitive sites.
In his submission, kura pou ārahi Russell Wilson highlighted concerns of alcohol being served in proximity to minors, excess noise coming from the venue and intoxicated patrons.
He was also worried about broken glass, litter and urine becoming a problem in entranceways.”
Tamariki [and] mokopuna use the surrounding footpaths around the entire block as routes for running — to get to schooling activities within walking distance,” Wilson’s submission read. ”It is proven that many people have mistaken our kura for surrounding buildings and have free-willingly walked in.”
Ben McCann inside the partially completed Anjuna Beer Garden, which he hopes to open in Gisborne's Gladstone Rd. Photo / Gisborne Herald
The kura, which has operated at Gladstone Road for five years, is concerned the bar would create an unsafe environment for young people.
Anjuna Beer Garden owner Ben McCann defended the location, saying the kura was already within close proximity of other on-licence premises.
He began his submission by providing a background of his history in hospitality, saying the vision for the business was to create “an old-time charm with books as a backdrop and the beautiful architecture of a 1920s heritage building”.
”I have signed a lease for the entire building, including the kitchen that Neptune’s [Pizzeria] is operating out of,” McCann said. ”The liquor licence hours are not intended as the business’ opening hours, and this has been clearly stated on the licence application’s front page and discussed several times.”
McCann also alleged that during a site visit, the police used intimidation tactics to scare him off the project.
This included being told he wouldn’t be allowed to set up the business and having offensive language used in his direction to express disbelief at the building’s capacity of more than 200 people.
“The reason I am raising these concerns is I hope no one behind me has to go through this,” he said. “It has taken six months to get here today and I still have no certainty of when I will be able to operate.”
McCann said the procedure had caused “significant financial strain” and later told Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) he had sunk about $100,000 into the venture.
A deal had been stuck with the landlord to avoid paying rent while the future of the business was decided.
Also present at the meeting was Tairāwhiti Medical Officer of Health Anura Jayasinghe, who had not made a submission, but highlighted issues in Tairāwhiti with hazardous drinking.
In July, Alcohol Healthwatch revealed the region had the highest rate of hazardous drinking in the country, with 44.9 per cent of drinkers considered hazardous compared with the national average of 27.1 per cent.
Two members of the police were at Monday’s meeting, including alcohol harm prevention officer Sergeant Isaac Ngatai.
Ngatai told LDR the hearing ended before he had a chance to publicly share his submission. However, the police had provided this to the licensing committee.
In his closing statement, Gisborne District Council licence inspector Vincenzo Petrella said the licence should not be granted.
Petrella said McCann’s application stated the principal purpose of the business was food, but it had become clear throughout the hearing that it was actually alcohol.
This would put it in breach of the council’s Local Alcohol Policy because of the business’ proximity to sensitive sites.
Should the business operate as a restaurant or cafe, it would not be subject to that condition. McCann argued that although he would operate a venue primarily focused on alcohol, a contract he had in place with adjacent Neptune Pizzeria met necessary food requirements.
He alleged the kura was operating without a resource consent, but an internal memo for the Gisborne District Licensing Committee dated April 18 says it is allowed to operate from its present site if no learning activities take place on the ground floor. Otherwise, a resource consent was required.
The kura had stated it was compliant with this condition.
In closing on Monday, licensing committee commissioner Pat Seymour said it had not been an easy hearing.
The hearing committee will provide a decision to the applicant and submitters within 15 working days.
