Police move against garage bars

Smoke hangs thick in the air at Mark Dent's bar.

When new legislation last December banned smoking from pubs and clubs, the Canterbury shift-worker took it upon himself to provide a haven for fellow smokers to drink and socialise.

A garage bar was born at his Banks Peninsula home. Visitors bring their own alcohol or contribute to a "slush fund".

"I don't go out to the pub anymore. I'm not going to stand outside for any bugger," Mr Dent said.

The phenomenon of garage or cul-de-sac bars has emerged nationwide following the smokefree law as smokers turn their backs on commercial bars.

In Northland, some pubs and bars had reported takings down by a third because of the emergence of garage bars.

No one has hard statistics of how many such bars there are, but police have begun working with hoteliers to identify garage bars that are operating illegally.

"Where we have had specific intelligence, we have gone out there and acted where we can," said a police national spokesman, who asked not to be named.

"We have been having some high-level meetings with the Hospitality Association and its anecdotal reports to us is that it's more of a problem than might have been brought to our attention."

The association is concerned about the business it is losing to illegal bars and is urging people to report them to police.

"The illegal bars are not constrained, as we are, in terms of service to intoxicated people, meeting hygiene requirements, paying rates, ensuring minors aren't served - all these essential requirements," said association chief executive Bruce Robertson.

"Clearly it's a concern that the industry that's got to meet those stringent requirements is effectively forced to compete with illegal operators. We are delighted that police have acted the way they have."

John Van Buren, a former hotel owner and leader of the WIN political party set up in opposition to smoking laws, has heard of at least 14 garage bars in the Christchurch area and he has no doubt they are prevalent throughout the rest of the country.

"It's Kiwi ingenuity isn't it? It's that No 8 wire mentality we have got. If the Government won't let you do it, you will go and find some other way of doing it anyway. Kiwis don't back down on that sort of thing," Mr Van Buren said.

"You will just see country pubs fall over left, right and centre now. But the Government doesn't seem to give a toss about that. There hasn't been the increase that the Government promised us, in trade in the bars. Some bars have done well, but the majority - especially country bars - have not."

Mr Robertson agreed country pubs were in danger of dying off because of the emergence of garage bars.

"If they gain traction in a particular small area, where you have got a low population density, clearly it has the potential to do that."

But he does not think the garage bars will last.

"People are going to get bored with the environment of a garage, as opposed to the hospitality environment provided by the industry."

Police had set up a "streamlined" reporting system for faster processing of complaints of illegal garage bars.

"It's not our intention to be fun-police and get out and prevent people from having drinks at a barbecue on a weekend evening. But we have a legal obligation when offences are brought to our attention," the police spokesman said, adding that it wasn't always an easy offence to prove.

Mr Van Buren expected a spate of prosecutions now the election was over.

"I think the Government is being pig-ignorant about the whole thing."