KEY POINTS:
The number of bars and bottle shops has tripled since 1988, with more than 15,200 registered in 2004.
The rapidly growing number of suburban liquor outlets may be contributing to alcohol abuse.
The proliferation of corner liquor stores in Auckland has come under scrutiny lately, with Manurewa MP George Hawkins proposing a bill to try to stop the rise.
More than 100 people took to the streets in the suburb of Clendon in May to protest the number of bottle stores in the area in a youth hikoi. There are seven bottle shops in the area where about 1500 people live.
Across Auckland and Manukau city, there are 2521 licensed alcohol outlets - including pubs and bars - 666 of those are off-licence stores or supermarkets which sell liquor.
Daniel Newman, of the Manurewa Community Board, has been campaigning for tighter restrictions on the number of licensed outlets.
"The number of off-licences in Manukau city has increased from 61 in 1990 to 185 last year, which is a 203 per cent increase," Newman said. "That increase is being felt in communities such as Manurewa and Clendon. Suburbanising and normalising alcohol is happening in the community because of permiss- ive planning laws operating [here]."
Newman said low-income areas often attracted a larger number of licensed premises, which take "money out of a community that can ill-afford to lose it".
Manukau City Council is also reviewing its alcohol strategy in response to public concern about abuse and aims to help reduce alcohol-related problems.
But Clendon resident Waina Emery, who co-ordinated the youth hikoi protest, said the bottle stores did not help build a strong, healthy, vibrant community.
"We've got some responsible youth in our area who want to live in a safe community, and they don't see why that temptation needs to be put there... In our view, it appears that certain lower socio-economic areas are targeted."
One young protester interviewed at the time said "with more liquor stores there's gonna be more violence, more graffiti, more crime".
