The application by Cromwell company The Gate Ltd seeks a new off-licence bottle store at 59 Ardmore St, a site most recently occupied by Woolworths, which closed in August last year.
The matter was heard by the Queenstown Lakes District Licensing Committee last month.
Lake Hāwea Voices representative Lisa Riley said Super Liquor’s Wānaka application asks the community to accept the unacceptable.
‘‘We are talking about putting a dedicated bottle store beside babies, new and vulnerable parents, breastfeeding support and people trying to stay sober.
‘‘If that does not trouble the licensing system, the system is the problem,’’ she said.
A statement from Ms Riley said the alcohol licensing inspector’s report recorded that Plunket hosts Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, breastfeeding support, antenatal classes, Well Child Tamariki Ora services and playgroups and that Plunket staff had found open alcohol containers inside the gated play area.
‘‘The inspector’s report also identified nine off-licences within 500m, including four bottle stores [and] recorded that the site sits inside Wānaka’s alcohol-ban area,’’ Ms Riley said.
She said Wānaka does not need another bottle store more than it needs Plunket, breastfeeding support and safe recovery spaces.
‘‘A licence is a privilege, not a right. Where there is a real risk of harm, the system is supposed to minimise that harm — not normalise it, not condition it away, and not ask vulnerable services to move out of the way.
‘‘This is already an alcohol-dense part of town.
‘‘Without a local alcohol policy, communities are forced to fight one application at a time while applicants keep testing how much more alcohol retail a town centre can absorb,’’ she said.
Ms Riley also opposed The Gate’s application to open a Lake Hāwea Super Liquor in the new Longview development, a decision which has also been reserved.
Ms Riley was calling for the latest application to be declined, for the council to urgently process a local alcohol policy, and an independent review of recent district licensing committee hearing conduct and alcohol-harm decision-making, the statement said.
She wanted no district licensing committee reappointments until that review was complete and clearer requirements for applicants to plainly disclose sensitive sites, including recovery services.
The Gate chief executive Glen Christiansen said the commentary was fair, but the group was very respectful of both Plunket and AA.
‘‘If you have a look at Ardmore St itself and the off-licences and liquor outlets that are already there, it is a business area.
‘‘It [Super Liquor] is a supervised area so you cannot come in unless you are over 18 or with a legal guardian and there is also the opportunity for people to self-exclude from bottle stores if they wish,’’ he said.
The group also had a meeting next week over the possibility of changing signage to ‘‘be more respectful of both Plunket and AA’’.
‘‘We still need to advertise our business but does it need to be as big and bold as what we first proposed — and do we need to be our hardcore blue that sticks out?
‘‘We’re respectful of the situation and we understand that and we want to work with those affected,’’ he said.
If approved, the Ardmore St Super Liquor would become the fourth bottle store within the town centre and eighth store in the Upper Clutha region to sell spirits.
