The Queenstown Lakes District Council has approved a multi-party submission on the Government's Alcohol Law Reform Bill - a national move submitters have hailed as the most "significant change" to liquor licensing laws in 20 years.
The submission was tabled by Lakes Environmental regulatory and corporate manager Lee Webster at yesterday's meeting of the council's community services committee just ahead of Friday's deadline.
Agreed on by a working party of over a dozen affected parties including licensees, community wardens, police, hoteliers and community groups, the submission identifies common goals for the control of liquor and the tools required to achieve it.
The council submission also urges the parliamentary select committee to retain the District Licensing Committee, which uses the full council, rather than the District Licensing Agency model proposed under the Bill, a three-member panel that would be made up of at least one elected representative.
Unelected members can stand on the DLA but no member can have any affiliation to the liquor industry.
The submission also wants the Government to resolve ambiguity around whether the authority of Local Alcohol Plans (LAP) will be superseded by licensing committees and licensing agencies under the Bill.
"The Government need to be a little bit more clear on what they're saying - is the Government saying we can ignore the LAP or not? We're just looking for clarity on that," Mr Webster said after the committee meeting.
Foreshadowing the submission, the council urged the committee to recognise Queenstown's special position as a tourism destination: "...our small community is at the forefront of many of the most vexing issues to do with alcohol use and misuse, through Queenstown's position as a tourist resort.
"The high number of tourists consuming often large amounts of alcohol in our town adds to the impact on our local community."
The executive summary also stated that the Bill "should be trying to help change the binge drinking culture that we all too often see the results of in our streets and homes."
