This week’s hearing was called after the complaint — which was received in August last year — accused the South Otago Town & Country Club of failing to meet its obligations regarding transport and food for patrons, and allowing fights and underage drinking to occur.
The anonymous letter was the only issue raised during the club’s relicensing process.
Police, health and licensing officials all praised the club’s operation and adherence to regulations.
The letter, claiming to be from a "regular patron and past member" of the club, alleged fights occurred "most weekends".
Club manager Tori Laban rejected this claim.
"[This] accusation ... is untrue. In the [two years] I have been managing the club we have had one ‘fight’, which happened at an event held within the club.
"The documentation for this incident is in our incident folder.
"We decided this year to get contracted security personnel in to help minimise the risk of this recurring.
"We haven’t had any other issues in regards to physical fighting."
The anonymous complainant also claimed club staff had served their 17-year-old grandson alcohol at a 21st birthday event.
Ms Laban said a review of CCTV footage of the event showed this claim also to be unfounded.
"There was no evidence of anybody transferring their stamp from one hand to another. We did have one 17-year-old male present at this event.
"The CCTV footage also shows he was not served by any staff member during the event."
During the hearing, Clubs NZ southern general manager Keith Ballantyne spoke in support of the club’s application.
He pointed out an anonymous submission could be from anyone, including a competitor, and should be taken accordingly.
"It seems a little strange, where there is no objection from the authorities, that somebody anonymously can write a letter in, and all of a sudden people get dragged through a process."
Following a brief private recess, the licensing committee agreed to renew the club’s licence for three years.
