Report on liquor ban proposed

[comment caption=Do you think a permanent liquor ban in North Dunedin is necessary?]A report on the effects of a permanent liquor ban in North Dunedin will be put together in the next few weeks, as efforts to find solutions to problems in the area continue.

Public Health South hosted a meeting in Dunedin yesterday of groups with an interest in the issue, including police, the University of Otago, the Hotel Association of New Zealand, student leaders and property owners.

Interest in the issue is high following the weekend's unofficial Undie 500, which sparked disorder for the second year running.

Media were excluded from the meeting but Dunedin City Council liquor licensing co-ordinator Kevin Mechen said it was an information-gathering exercise on the health and well-being effects of a ban.

Ways of dealing with problems in North Dunedin, apart from a ban, had been raised.

A Wellington company had been hired by Public Health South to write a report from the meeting, to give an independent view on an issue many in Dunedin had strong views about.

The report would go to the council's planning and environment committee in six weeks' time.

Cr Michael Guest, chairman of the working party considering the ban, said he could only support the idea if it was part of a larger scheme to deal with problems in North Dunedin.

The working party has already considered earlier closing times for licensed premises, a permanent one-way door policy, eliminating liquor advertising and promotions on council-owned properties, CCTV and non-alcohol sponsorship of orientation week.

Public Health South's involvement had "come out of left field", but the report would give the working party more information to help its decision-making, Cr Guest said.

 

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