Clampdown on trading

The Windsor Park Super Liquor licence severely limits trading hours. Photo / Janna Dixon

A landmark decision setting tough operating hours for a liquor store close to schools and churches has shocked the hospitality industry.

Liquor companies fear it could set a precedent for new stores up and down the country.

The Liquor Licensing Authority has granted Super Liquor Windsor Park a licence but has dramatically limited its opening hours after opposition from, among others, two schools.

The owners wanted a licence to open 7am till midnight, Monday to Saturday and 7am till 11pm Sunday. But the authority insisted it must be closed when students were going to and from school.

The licence allows the Mairangi Bay shop to open from 10am-2pm and 4-6pm Monday to Friday. It can trade 10am to 8pm Saturday, with no Sunday trading at all.

Super Liquor Holdings chief operating officer Martin Bremner said the restrictions were commercially impossible. "I personally think it would have been fairer to reject a licence, rather than force a small business to make a go of a halfway house outcome such as this."

Bremner said he was concerned there was no level playing field for the liquor industry.

"For example in this case the restrictions were due to the proximity of the store to a church and school. However, I can think of many situations where children are exposed to alcohol on sale and the outlets are not subject to such restrictions on their opening hours."

Hospitality Association chief executive Bruce Robertson said the decision was "certainly one of the most restrictive" the authority had issued. The association helped the store's owners - PP and G Basra Ltd - to appeal the decision, but the High Court has upheld the original decision.

Robertson said the case set a legal precedent and indicated communities were going to have a greater say in licensing hours. "It's going to make it much more difficult for new businesses to establish."

The owners of the store did not wish to comment.

Rangitoto College principal David Hodge was delighted with the decision. There are nine liquor outlets close to the school, and Hodge was concerned about the effect on alcohol consumption and drink-driving. "The placement of a another liquor outlet with all the associated promotional material next to the school ... undermines the message that society wants us to give young people."

Rangitoto College and nearby St John's Primary school were among the 184 objectors to the initial application. They generally focused on the risk of vandalism, loitering and other undesirable behaviour.

Lawyer Alan Dormer, who represented the school at the High Court appeal, said the ground-breaking decision about the Mairangi Bay outlet seemed to have slipped under the public radar. "I would have thought that every little community group around the country, or more schools would be saying 'look at this decision'."

Following a Law Commission review, there is likely to be a new Sale of Liquor Act introduced to Parliament by the end of the year.

Hodge said the Law Commission arranged meetings with principals in Auckland after the first judgment. "I am aware of some schools that suffer from being surrounded by a plethora of liquor outlets."