Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora medical officer of health Michael Butchard made a presentation to Southland District Council last week regarding its Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) — a mechanism which allows councils to set rules guiding the sale, supply and consumption of alcohol.
Dr Butchard told those gathered that the harm caused by alcohol was underestimated in New Zealand, and internationally.
Alcohol harm cost the economy $9.1 billion a year, and the substance was linked to over 200 medical conditions.
"But the main point is that the burden of alcohol harm is large. It’s often underappreciated, probably by the majority of New Zealanders, and it does justify an LAP that aims to do more rather than less."
Dr Butchard said the only way to reduce chronic harms was for people to consume less alcohol.
"It’s way too high at the moment. To be honest, it should be less than a fifth of what our average consumption is now."
Health New Zealand’s submission to the council supported maximum off-licence trading hours of 9am to 9pm. The current policy has no restriction, although licence applications need to justify the requested hours.
The submission also supported extending sensitive premises to include health facilities, rehab centres, marae and fale Pasifika; plus off-licence deliveries coming with a minimum three hour wait time.
Hospitality New Zealand head of membership Darelle Jenkins gave a different perspective, saying councils had many options for reducing alcohol harm while maintaining the benefits of hospitality.
That included through national settings and district licensing committees, which had discretion in approving licences and could issue infringement notices.
"We recognise that some feel hospitality contributes to alcohol-related harm in some communities; however we firmly believe that well run on-licensed environments are part of the solution to addressing alcohol related harm in New Zealand."
Off-licences include bottle stores and supermarkets while on-licences include restaurants, bars and pubs.
Southland District Council undertook a public consultation for its LAP late last year.
Twenty submissions were received. Deliberations are set for next month.
The council reviews its policy every six years but is looking to reduce that to four so it can deal with concerns faster and avoid election years.
The policy has previously been shared with Invercargill City Council but is being reviewed separately this time around.
• LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
