Ben McCann at the bar of his proposed Anjuna Beer Garden, in the former Scotty's Bar and Grill building on Gladstone Rd. Photo / Paul Rickard
Ben McCann at the bar of his proposed Anjuna Beer Garden, in the former Scotty's Bar and Grill building on Gladstone Rd. Photo / Paul Rickard
Ben McCann says his hospitality plans came to a halt after a Gisborne school appealed his application for a new liquor licence, leaving him hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
McCann was granted a liquor licence in May, 2023 to set up Anjuna Beer Garden on Gisborne’s main road, despite opposition from police and a local school.
However, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Hawaiki Hou, a small school in central Gisborne, appealed the decision.
McCann claims the appeal from the kura was illegitimate as the school was not fully compliant, as it was waiting for a resource consent.
He withdrew the liquor application on June 5 over the issue.
This week, a councillor told Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) that Gisborne District Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann had told them the kura’s building had not been compliant, but it would be shortly.
The council confirmed Te Kura Kaupapa Māori O Hawaiki Hou is in the process of gaining resource consent to operate as a school on both floors of its building.
In a statement released to LDR yesterday, Thatcher Swann said under the current Tairāwhiti Resource Management Plan, educational activities are permitted in the CBD if they are not undertaken on the ground floor.
“The kura has applied for a resource consent to operate a school at 39 Gladstone Rd, on both the ground and first floors.”
This consent application is currently on hold as the council waits for more information.
“The council has requested that the kura advise the council how it intends to legally formalise the existing rear fire escape route,” the council said in the statement.
Yet earlier this month, when McCann asked the council if the kura met fire safety and evacuation regulations, the council responded that as part of the resource consent, the applicant was required to submit a fire safety report, which it said was prepared in October 2023.
Several recommendations were made, and issues were resolved as part of this process, the council said to McCann.
A local kaupapa Māori kura located on Gisborne's main street, in the building pictured at left, appealed the liquor licence of Anjuna Beer Garden - a development in the blue building at right that has not been able to open.
The 1920s heritage building where Anjuna Beer Garden was proposed has a hospitality history of almost 30 years and there is an on-licence restaurant and bar just a few doors down.
The kura moved into the old bank building in February 2019.
Under liquor licensing rules, there could be no new liquor licences granted within 150 metres of the kura’s site, except for restaurants or cafes.
Anjuna Beer Garden, which was considered a tavern, would be 35 metres from the school.
During the hearing for the licence on April 24, 2023, the kura’s principal, Russell Wilson, made a submission opposing the new licence.
Wilson raised concerns about intoxicated patrons, alcohol being served near minors, noise coming from the venue, along with worries about broken glass and people urinating in the area.
“It is proven that many people have mistaken our kura for surrounding buildings and have free-willingly walked in,” he said.
Although the school’s hours differed from the proposed bar, the kura intended to hold overnight wānanga for children and their whānau.
Despite opposition from the kura, police and liquor licensing inspectors, McCann had his liquor licence approved on May 8, 2023.
“The committee has not been able to establish any legal status for the operation of a kura/school in this inner commercial zone building,” the minutes of the licensing decision said.
Wilson declined to comment to LDR on the issues of non-compliance and said he would rather talk directly to the person who had made the accusations.
“This does not seem like an article but merely a misled view from somebody of the public who has no will to inquire directly,” he said.
In the kura’s appeal letter, Wilson said the Gisborne District Licensing Committee (GDLC) failed to take into consideration their obligation to effect Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles.
“Nor did the GDLC acknowledge the special status of Māori in the decision-making process regarding the sale and/or supply of alcohol,” the letter said.
McCann said the council did not notify him of the appeal until he emailed the council seven months later asking for them to send his liquor licence.
McCann says during those months he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing the building for opening.
“Council is not responsible for notifying parties of an appeal. The appeal process including notification is covered by the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012,” the council said in their released statement.
