The first Southern council has taken steps to enforce further controls on retailers of psychoactive substances.
At its meeting on Tuesday night, the Gore District Council adopted a draft combined local approved products policy that restricts the location of any business in the Gore district to two blocks in Gore's Main St. Southland's two other local authorities, Invercargill City Council and Southland District Council, have yet to consider the draft policy.
The Psychoactive Substances Act allows local authorities to control the location of retailers within their districts by introducing a local approved products policy. The policies can control where retailers operate by excluding them from certain areas, and preventing them from operating near community facilities and other retailers.
Councillors were critical of the Government's Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 and the limited powers it gave councils.
Under the Act, councils cannot stop businesses setting up, and can only restrict where they set up.
''Central Government has left local government holding the baby,'' Mr Hicks said.
Gore, like towns throughout the country, did not want businesses that sold psychoactive substances, he said.
Cr Nicky Davis said most people she had spoken to were horrified by the prospect of having these businesses in their town. Local MPs needed to be told the council did not want them in the community.
The council decided to restrict businesses to properties that front on to the Main St in a 400m section from the roundabout at Hokonui Dr to the Mersey St roundabout, a high-profile area it hoped would be a deterrent.
