Uni objection to liquor sales licence

The University of Otago is fighting a North Dunedin shop's right to sell alcohol, despite a concession from the tertiary institution it has "no grounds'' to do so.

University of Otago vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne wrote to Dunedin's District Licensing Committee in May, after learning the owners of the Regent Night 'n Day had applied to renew their liquor licence.

Prof Hayne, in her letter, said the law gave the university "no grounds for objection'', but she wanted to reiterate the university's concern about liquor outlet density and alcohol-related harm anyway.

While not commenting specifically on the dairy's bid, she urged the committee to do "all in its power'' to control the density and trading hours of liquor outlets around the North Dunedin student area.

"The excessive consumption of alcohol by young people and the impact of this consumption on the health, safety and wellbeing of our students, the reputation of the university and of the city of Dunedin is of great concern not only to us, but to the community as a whole.

"The unacceptable density of liquor outlets in North Dunedin and the ready availability of cheap alcohol is at the heart of this problem.''

Committee secretary Kevin Mechen said yesterday the university's views could be considered a public objection, but it would be up to the committee to decide when proceedings began on Thursday.

The shop's owner, Lane Group director Denise Lane, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Mr Mechen's report said the licensing inspector also opposed the application, citing the absence of key documents, including certified annual sales data.

The data was needed to determine whether the business qualified as a grocery shop, making it eligible for a liquor license.

Mrs Lane had offered one month's sales data, saying that "has always been our practice'' and that compiling 12 months' data would take three months of full-time work.

That was not good enough for the Southern District Health Board's medical officer of health, who also opposed the application based on the missing data.

Police and Fire and Emergency New Zealand did not object.

Mr Mechen's report noted Lane Group had been licensed to sell alcohol since 1996, and had done so "without incident'' since a failed controlled purchase operation in 2005.

chris.morris@odt.co.nz