An on-licence and off-licence renewal application by St Kilda Tavern (2002) Ltd has been opposed by the Dunedin City Council’s chief licensing inspector.
The application was made by a previous operator of the tavern, Ian Tolerton, who owns the land and building, but has not run the business for about two years.
In her report, chief licensing inspector Tanya Morrison said the application was only for technical renewals to enable new owners to hold temporary authority licences.
Since Mr Tolerton last ran the business, two subsequent owners had attempted to obtain full liquor licences — both unsuccessfully.
"Currently, the third new owner is operating the tavern on yet another set of temporary licences."
In May, the tavern, then operated by Kilda Hospitality Ltd, was stripped of its liquor licences by Dunedin’s district licensing committee.
The on-site manager had not maintained the food provision to the standard required by law, and it appeared Auckland-based owner Darshpreet Singh, while in Dunedin, "has made no effort to inspect the premises for even the basic requirement of his licence", committee secretary Kevin Mechen said.
Ms Morrison said while the suitability of the new owner was not considered within this renewal application, she questioned the need to allow the technical renewals to be granted when the applicant "is not trading nor actively involved in this business in any way and hasn’t been for some time".
The application did not reflect current trading activities, she said.
"For example, no duty managers have been stated, the applicant’s answers to questions around food availability and the management of the premises, including the host responsibility policy provided, are not current policies nor accurate information given the applicant isn’t running the actual business nor based in Dunedin any more."
It was unclear how liquor laws could be upheld when the applications were "paper-based only" and not based upon actual intended trading activities.
Ms Morrison said she believed the committee would benefit from hearing from the applicant directly.
Neither police nor the medical officer of health delegate opposed the application.
A hearing has been scheduled for today.
