A spat between the authorities and lower Octagon bar owners
has started over a promotion offering patrons a discounted
taxi home if they buy six drinks in four hours.
The authorities say the promotion, which covers the period
between 7pm and 11pm on Thursdays, breaches the Sale of
Liquor Act by encouraging patrons to drink excessive amounts
of alcohol.
But the bar owners believe it complies with the Act and are
seeking a legal opinion.
Following discussions with organisers from the Lower Octagon
Licensed Forum, police, the medical officer of health and the
Dunedin City Council district licensing authority met on
Wednesday, but decided it was too late to stop the promotion,
called "Octagon Alive", going ahead last night.
District licensing inspector Tony Mole said the forum was
notified that if the promotion was held again next week, as
advertised, the district licensing authority would be forced
to take action against the bar owners.
The authorities were unaware of the promotion until he saw
the advertisement in the Otago Daily Times last week,
Mr Mole said.
The same day, he emailed a letter expressing his concerns to
lower Octagon bar owner and forum member Phil Ellis.
His concerns related to patrons being rewarded for buying six
drinks in one evening, when the Alcohol Advisory Council
suggested women should drink no more than four standard
drinks on one occasion, and men no more than six, Mr Mole
said in the letter.
"The promotion is encouraging patrons to engage in unsafe
drinking practices."
He received a response from another forum member and bar
owner, Grant Ellis, on Tuesday, saying the forum did not
believe it was breaching any laws and the promotion was
designed to attract more people to the area.
The letter said the forum believed it was a responsible group
and its members were offended by the implication they were
acting in an illegal, anti-social and non-professional
manner, Mr Mole said.
He had received several complaints about the advertised
promotion from members of the public and was aware the police
had been approached by a Law Commission representative, who
expressed similar concerns.
The Dunedin police liquor licensing officer could not be
reached for comment yesterday afternoon.
Forum spokesman John MacDonald said the group met yesterday
and opted to seek legal advice before making any decision
about the promotion.
Bar owners had been conscious of their host responsibility
when designing the promotion, which was why drinks could be
non-alcoholic, it was limited to a few hours only, the drinks
had to be from six different bars and it promoted getting
home safely.
They intended to obtain legal advice before next Thursday.
Mr Mole said if the forum had asked him about the promotion
before going ahead with it, "this whole situation could have
been avoided".
"I'm here to give advice."
debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz
Sensible Drinking
Interesting things ignored about this promotion.
Stamps for drinks are given out throughout the entire evening (not just a four hour period; the four hours of 7 - 11 just refers to the time $4 drinks are available)
As has already been pointed out non-alcoholic drinks are valid for a stamp.
Also think about this for a Thursday night out:
Venue 1 for a meal and a drink (stamp 1) 7pm;
Venue 2 for dessert and a coffee (stamp 2) 8pm;
Venue 3 for a drink & live entertainment (stamp 3) 9pm;
Venue 4 for a change of scene drink & free food (stamp 4) 9:30pm;
Venue 5 for more of the same (stamp 5) 10pm;
Venue 6 to complete your tour of the octagon and collecting your taxi chit to get home 10:30pm.
Don't forget that it is in a bar's best interest to keep their customers safe and under control. The same can not be said about house parties.
Furthermore, a $4 drink can still be 3x as expensive as the same drink in a supermarket. Maybe that's why over 70% of alcohol in New Zealand is drunk in the home, in an unregulated environment, without standard drink measurements, and no (or few) sober people looking out for your safety.
'An arc of vibrancy'
Cr. Michael Guest spoke some months ago about an 'arc-of-vibrancy' which would extend, as I recall, from the city centre to the 'Foo-Bar' Stadium. Maybe this kind of thing, along with over-inflated prices, will become the 'norm' once his 'arc' is up-and-running to full capacity. Are we trying to make ourselves into the 'Queenstown' of Coastal Otago?
6 drinks or less
I guess they have chosen 6 drinks because more than 6 drinks in one sitting is considered binge drinking. Also, the DCC did try putting on free buses at night as a trial but no one used them. What they do need to do is put more public toilets in the area. There's no toilets anywhere, and when you need to go you have to find a quiet alleyway, and risk getting arrested. I'm also not sure that cutting traffic in the Octagon is a good idea. Whenever it is even party closed it's a nightmare to drive through the centre of town. I'm not sure why people actually need to drive through there, but everyone seems to. There's plenty of roads that avoid the Octagon anyway! Maybe they could close it off at 5 pm on Saturday night and reopen it Sunday morning.
The same owners
Don't the guys who own the Cook also own/have an interest in some of the bars in the lower Octagon? Are these the same people who were snapped over alcohol promotions with students? Maybe they are trying the same ideas but with a different market?
Beanies?
Is this the same group of folks who want a less loutish clientelle? The same group who are worried about how people dress?
yes ..
because they want to make the people who will spend more money feel safe in the space. The theory being I guess that people who make more money always 'dress up', little do they know.
Oh for heaven's sake . . .
Oh for heaven's sake! The fun police are back again. This is a great promotion by a group of bars (with different owners) who are trying to make the lower Octagon a safe and pleasant place to be. My first reaction to their promo was to be impressed that they were encouraging taxi rides home - what a great idea. (The DCC of course not providing decent public transport at night.) If non-alcoholic drinks are included in the promo then what is the problem? It means I can go out, have one beer and 5 cokes if I want, and get a discount on a taxi home. Brilliant, safe, responsible. Now if the DCC could step up and do their bit, we might have a really nice area for the summer - stop the traffic round the lower Octagon and provide decent nightbuses for a start.
Most people wouldn't think of that
I spoke to a cabbie last night who was none too impressed with the deal - they're going to have to deal with more drunken idiots. If non-alcoholic drinks were included that might help - but most people wouldn't think of it straight off. I like the idea, but would suggest a maximum of two alcoholic drinks, and the other four have to be non-alcoholic.
re: Oh for heaven's sake . . .
Yay. Once they get them drunk they're going to get them home. Seriously, "fun police"? Way to distort what's being said. Bravo. I mean, it's utterly baseless and biased towards "drunk = FUN!" but no matter, good on you. At the end of this promotion I'd love to see the breakdown of people who went with non-alcoholic options vs those who had six alcoholic drinks.