A new bottle store is opening in the former Video Ezy premises in upper Victoria Ave.
A new bottle store is opening in the former Video Ezy premises in upper Victoria Ave.
A new bottle store is opening in upper Victoria Ave, despite community objections and the opposition of Whanganui District Council's chief alcohol licensing inspector.
The Whanganui District Licensing Committee has approved an application by Shree Sai Holdings (New Plymouth) Ltd for a new off-licence at 446 Victoria Ave, the premisesformerly occupied by Video Ezy.
The company operates 18 bottle stores in the lower North Island, including the Black Bull outlets in Whanganui.
Warrick Zander, the council's compliance operations manager and also its chief alcohol licensing inspector said a proposed cap on the number of off licences in the city was not yet in place because the Local Alcohol Policy was going through a judicial process.
The application by Shree Sai Holdings (New Plymouth) was made on July 25, 2018 and publicly advertised as required by the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.
"On 27 November 2018, a hearing was held before the District Licensing Committee," Zander said.
"Its decision was subsequently issued on 20 December 2018, granting the application and issuing of the licence.
"A number of objections from the community were received. However, these were received outside the statutory allowable timeframe and were therefore not allowed or considered as part of the hearing decision.
"As Chief Alcohol Licensing Inspector, I also opposed the application."
Zander's report to the Licensing Committee said it was not desirable to issue any more licences for the area, which has 10 licensed premises within a 500 metre radius of the new store. Four of them are off-licence premises.
There are three more bottle stores within 800m and another one within 1km.
He said Laird Park was an area "that suffers from extremely high levels of deprivation and is already saturated by eight off licensed premises".
It was ranked in the top 1.4 per cent of all neighbourhoods in New Zealand for crime.
As Chief Alcohol Licensing Inspector, I also opposed the application.
A report by Dr Nicki Jackson, executive director of Alcohol Healthwatch, said the addition of another licensed premises in the locality would increase alcohol-related harm, Zander said.
"This coupled with the community's strong views against another bottle store suggest [sic] it is not desirable for the issue of any further licences in this locality," the report said.
The Police and Medical Officer of Health did not oppose the application.
Chief alcohol licensing inspector Warrick Zander opposed the application.
The Licensing Committee, comprising chairman Stuart Hylton, Nicki Higgie and Hamish McDouall, said the applicant was a well-respected operator and, in their opinion, "the amenity and good order of the locality are not so badly affected by the effects of the issue of existing licences... that it is undesirable to issue this licence".
They gave weighting to the fact that neither the Police nor Medical Officer of Health had lodged an objection to the application.
Work is currently under way on the store which, once open, will operate between 9am and 9.30pm Monday to Sunday.
"Licensing inspectors, Police and the Medical Officer of Health will actively monitor the premises and work with the licensee to ensure the sale and supply of alcohol is conducted in a safe and responsible manner," Zander said.
