'Huge problems': bar owners air World Cup concerns

Dunedin bar owners John MacDonald (left) and Phil Ellis say the Dunedin City Council is not doing...
Dunedin bar owners John MacDonald (left) and Phil Ellis say the Dunedin City Council is not doing enough for Rugby World Cup fans expected to descend on the Octagon later this year. Photo by Craig Baxter.
Fans leaving Forsyth Barr Stadium after watching Rugby World Cup matches could find themselves shut out of Dunedin's bars.

That is the warning from a group of frustrated Octagon bar owners, upset at Dunedin City Council plans for the global sports tournament.

Terrace Bar owner John MacDonald - speaking for the group - said a ban on marquees in the Octagon during the event meant space would be squeezed.

Councillors last week voted to allow street closures and smaller, open-sided gazebos outside bars, but not larger, enclosed marquees used previously.

The aim was to keep parts of the Octagon clear for "family-friendly entertainment" planned for before - but not after - each of the city's three matches.

Mr MacDonald said that meant, for example, large numbers of English fans and others, expected in Dunedin for the team's clash with Romania at 6pm on September 24 could find themselves shut out of the city's bars afterwards.

Many would be heading for the Octagon in search of a meal, a drink and a big screen to watch the All Blacks v France match on television, which will kick off at 8.30pm that day, he said.

"As it stands at the moment, none of the people that walk out of that stadium are going to be able to get into licensed premises anywhere in Dunedin. The Octagon will be full before the [England] game's even finished."

The council had already decided not to pay for an official fan zone, and banning marquees meant licensed outdoor space capable of catering for an extra 3500 people would be greatly reduced, he said.

"There is potential for huge problems," he said.

Mr MacDonald - speaking for the owners of Craft Bar, 10 Bar, Ratbags and Innocent Bystander in the lower Octagon - said he feared the council risked damaging the city's reputation in the eyes of visitors.

"We have had a number of years to organise ourselves for this event ... As it stands at the moment, they're doing absolutely nothing."

Mayor Dave Cull hit back yesterday, saying bar owners were concerned "to maximise their revenue".

He doubted all bars would be full and disagreed the city's reputation was at risk, but said it was the council's job to provide for a range of uses in the Octagon.

Enclosed marquees like those used during last year's Welsh test match meant the area "basically turns its back on the Octagon", he said.

"It becomes a much less inviting place for the other people that might want to be there.

"The last thing we want is to be known as a place that sticks up some tents and has a whole lot of drunks swilling in them."

However, the shortage of space was also acknowledged in a report by council marketing communications agency manager Debra Simes to last week's council meeting.

Her report warned 10,000 fans would try to squeeze into the city's bars, which had licensed space for a maximum of 5000 customers, meaning the city "is likely to have difficulty adequately hosting the volumes of people expected".

Ms Simes told the Otago Daily Times she would nevertheless work with the Dunedin hospitality sector and other parties to spread visitors around the city's bars and restaurants, despite the shortage of space predicted.

It was "premature" to predict how many people would gather in non-licensed parts of the Octagon, she said.

"But certainly we do see the Octagon as a key public space during the whole of the Rugby World Cup tournament."

- chris.morris@odt.co.nz

 

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