Local alcohol policies 'a farce': Cull

Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull has taken another swipe at the country's approach to local alcohol policies, saying the system is ''a farce'' that puts commercial interests before communities.

He was commenting as councillors received an annual report from the Dunedin District Licensing Committee, covering its work for the year to June.

The report noted the council's watered-down local alcohol policy has been referred back to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA) for approval.

The policy was stripped of key changes earlier this year after being successfully appealed by a group including supermarket chains and liquor stores, leaving only uncontested aspects of the policy to be rolled out in Dunedin.

Mr Cull, speaking at yesterday's meeting, said he wanted to reiterate the approach to local alcohol policies (LAPs) nationally effectively put commercial interests ahead of community wellbeing.

The burden of proof was on councils to prove their policies would reduce alcohol-related harm, despite an earlier royal commission having already identified the factors exacerbating that harm, he said.

There needed to be a ''complete change'' in approach at a national level when it came to LAPs, ''because at the moment they are a farce'', he said.

''If you were cynical, you would say they have been set up to fail,'' Mr Cull said.

His comments were endorsed by Cr Lee Vandervis, who said he had been shocked to discover - as a new member of Dunedin's DLC - the committees were ''almost toothless''.

They could make marginal changes, but ''the elephant in the room is price and distribution'', he said.

Developed in 2014, the city's LAP included a proposal to cut off-licence hours back from 7am-11pm to just 9am-9pm.

It also proposed a moratorium on most types of bottle stores in North Dunedin, a requirement for alcohol management plans for off-licences, and the requirement for a certificate from the DCC planning department for off-licences.

New Zealand's two supermarket giants, Progressive Enterprises and Foodstuffs, as well as six other parties, appealed those parts of the policy to the ARLA and won.

The ARLA ruled parts of the council's policy were unreasonable and there was no evidence they would reduce alcohol-related harm.

That left the council with the option of removing those sections from the plan and rolling out the remaining changes, such as one-way door and earlier closing times, as licences came up for renewal.

Council community services general manager Simon Pickford said all appellants to the earlier policy had now signed off on the revised one, which has been resubmitted to the ARLA.

With no appeals outstanding, it was hoped it would be approved and in place by early next year.