Internet cafes in council's firing line

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Auckland City Council plans a crackdown on internet cafes in response to worries that some are gaming hangouts for youths.

Council inspectors are investigating complaints that cafes are springing up in unsafe premises and are ignoring health bylaws by allowing customers to smoke, eat and drink as they play or watch computer games.

The council will look at how it can force operators to lift standards, said city development chairwoman Juliet Yates.

"Some of the cafes are causing concern as they have become gaming halls for youths to hang around in," she said.

The council has found it has limited control over internet cafe operators. It cannot, for example, copy what Waitakere City Council did last month to successfully clean up cafes in its area.

After police complained that schoolchildren as young as 12 were playing games at 3am, Waitakere extended a bylaw for amusement galleries to require operators to seek a licence.

This restricts opening hours, bans children during school hours and ensures premises meet council health and safety standards. Only approved operators can open 24 hours. Three rejected premises were forced to close.

But the wording of Auckland City's bylaw for amusement arcades and galleries does not enable it to license internet cafes. Cafes are not classed as amusement arcades.

Some internet cafe operators welcomed threats of a council crackdown.

They said they knew of 24-hour places where the staff slept on the premises and paying a $15 fee allowed a customer to stay overnight.

Michael Harris, from Login 1 in Newmarket, said he did not see why good operators should have to suffer extra council red tape because of others' stupidity.