Judy Mitchell, Margaret Cotter, David Mitchell, Lyndle Lister and Esme Palliser were just a few of the Mapua residents who were among almost 90 to make submissions against plans by Super Liquor for a bottle store opposite the village primary school. Photo / Tracy Neal
A flood of community opposition has poured cold water on a liquor store planned opposite a primary school in a quiet seaside village.
The Tasman District Licensing Committee has turned down an application by Nelson Holdings Limited (NHL) for a Super Liquor near Māpua’s primary school.
The company’s operations director and shareholder David Hall told NZME although the decision was disappointing they respected the committee’s view and would not be looking at other sites in Māpua at this stage.
The small settlement on the Tasman Bay coastline between Nelson and Motueka has built a thriving visitor industry on a legacy of apples and artists and its historic village-scale wharf.
The licencing committee noted, among a list of reasons for declining the application, that Māpua was “very child and family-centric”, and residents wanted it to stay that way.
NHL had already signed a lease on the premises, after searching other sites in Māpua.
Hall told last month’s four-day hearing NHL had looked at various sites in Māpua including another on the same street as their preferred site and one near Māpua Wharf.
It decided against the site nearby because of its proximity to other licensed premises, healthcare services, a childcare facility and the main Māpua playground, pump track, skate park and playing field.
The application attracted 88 objections from the public, plus opposition from the police, the Medical Officer of Health, and the district licensing inspector.
A representative for the applicant suggested the theme of the submissions was that “Māpua shouldn’t have a bottle store”.
Hall told NZME the company felt the Māpua community would have benefited from a bottle store, especially since it had a long track record of being a responsible operator in Nelson-Tasman.
Community Action Youth and Drugs (CAYAD), operated in Nelson-Tasman by the Health Action Trust, supported the Māpua community in opposing the application.
Spokesperson Marcelo Ribas said they were delighted with the outcome, which was the result of community action at its best.
“It shows just how much influence a community can have when they are united and determined for the wellbeing of their community.”
Sergeant Olivia Gibson, who worked in Alcohol Harm Prevention for Nelson Bays Police, said agencies and many objectors were strongly unified in opposing the application.
Community stalwarts David and Judy Mitchell’s submission, formed with help from their daughter, lawyer Kate Mitchell, focused on the law around the sale and supply of alcohol.
The Mitchells submitted that amenity values in the area would be reduced by “more than a minor extent”, and that the application showed a lack of understanding of the area’s special environment, including a nearby scenic reserve created with the help of school pupils since it was gifted to the public in 1977.
Māpua Primary School Board of Trustees chairwoman Rachel Stanton said the board was “strongly opposed” to a licence being issued for the site opposite the school, because of the possibility of increased costs of vandalism for the school and the community, plus the impact on young people exposed to alcohol as they arrived at school and when they went home.
Stanton said Māpua was a safe place, and the goal of the Local Alcohol Policy supported that.
Dr Andre Bonny, who worked at the Māpua Health Centre, said around 1 per cent of the centre’s 5000 patients had a “serious problem with alcohol”, and making it more readily available would only lead to more problems.
Retired medical practitioner Dr Jim Vause felt the applicant had little awareness of alcohol-related harm.
He said research from Waikato University around the density of off-licences showed the addition of just one licence increased anti-social behaviour and other offending.
Māpua resident and district nurse Phillipa Hiles was concerned about public safety and the fact that help from the nearest police was at least 20 minutes away.
The applicant believed that in such a small place as Māpua it was difficult, if not impossible, to find a tenancy that was not near a site considered sensitive, and that given the history of the site having previously been a tavern, being near the school would not be a significant issue.
The company aimed to address concerns by making the store’s opening time 10am, closing in the afternoon as students finished school, and having no exterior advertising except for the company logo. Neither did it plan to sell vapes or cigarettes.
Concerns about possible disorder and rubbish in the nearby park would be dealt with by regular “sweeps” of the reserve to assess any problems.
Hall said in response to questions over NHL’s interaction with mana whenua, that it had “held a community consultation meeting” earlier in the process.
He later said engagement with the community had been by way of the Super Liquor Facebook page.
When questioned on the company’s motives, Hall confirmed that its plan was a “defensive move”.
He said NHL discovered in 2020 that another party wanted to put a bottle store in Māpua, which would likely have a negative financial effect on the company’s Motueka and Richmond outlets.
The committee declined the application for several reasons including proximity to sensitive sites, reduction in amenity value and good order of the location, and because of the likely increase in alcohol-related harm as a result of increased accessibility to alcohol.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
The 19-year-old disappeared without her wallet or mobile phone.