Council staff get rocket over bar laws

The fallout from the Auckland City liquor law about-face will hit council staff, who will get the blame at today's weekly leadership meeting.

Mayor John Banks and his political ally Aaron Bhatnagar will give senior staff a ticking-off for not consulting the hospitality industry properly over plans to change rules covering liquor sales in the city.

Mr Bhatnagar, the councillor steering the changes through the council, yesterday confirmed at a meeting on alcohol issues attended by about 150 bar and restaurant owners that they were being withdrawn.

He apologised for the "council officers' proposal" to the city development committee, which he chairs.

"These proposals were too fatally flawed to waste any further time, and [it] was causing too much grief to those affected for it to proceed through to formal hearings," Mr Bhatnagar said.

The changes, which would have closed suburban bars before midnight and placed tough restrictions on entertainment precincts such as Ponsonby Rd and 24-hour licensees in the central city, met hostility from the hospitality industry.

Several bar and restaurant owners criticised lack of consultation by council officers with groups such as the Hospitality Association and Restaurant Association to try to come up with a sensible proposal.

Mr Bhatnagar, who did not pick any flaws before voting for the draft changes, acknowledged to the meeting that the on-licence consultation was deficient. Consultation was better with the off-licence industry, he said.

The Herald understands today's ticking-off will be directed at chief executive David Rankin, who has been striving to improve council consultation procedures since a public furore over the handling of the Vulcan Lane upgrade in 2005.

The general manager overseeing the changes, Dr Jill McPherson, will also get the message. The officer who wrote the policy changes, Leanne Rhodes, has left the council.

Mr Banks is hoping the backdown does not damage his bid to be the first mayor of the Auckland Super City next year.

Meanwhile, two suburban bars criticised by local residents last week say they are responsible operators who keep within the Sale of Liquor Act and the conditions of their licences.

Grant and Ellie Tullett, of the Grey Lynn Tavern, said staff were trained to be vigilant over issues concerning neighbours, and disagreed with the claim of resident Gordon Hill that the tavern attracted people from outside the area.

Jason Breen, of the Villager in Remuera Rd, rejected allegations of bottles being dumped into bins late at night and patrons urinating, vomiting and shouting outside or near the bar and restaurant.