A bar in downtown Tauranga has been forced to close for a week, the longest closure ordered in the city in at least three years. The move comes after patrons were caught drink driving after leaving One Bar, assaults in or outside the premises, and unlicensed managers running the bar onThe Strand. The incidents all happened between December 2008 and March 2009 and breached the Sale of Liquor Act 1989. One Bar, on the corner of The Strand and Hamilton St, will be shut from 7am on Monday June 8 until the same time on June 15. The ruling follows an application by Sergeant Nigel McGlone to the Liquor Licensing Authority for suspension or cancellation of the bar's licence. Negotiations between Mr McGlone, Tauranga District Licensing Agency inspector Norman Gilbert and representatives of Oakland Industries Ltd, which owns One Bar, led to a settlement. As well as the one-week licence suspension, Oakwood Industries had to undergo a change of directorship. As of last Thursday, the bar is under the directorship of Queenstown-based Shaun Cody and Jason Herron, as well as Tauranga-based Caleb MacDonald. Mr Herron and Mr Cody's involvement with the bar began in May 2007. Chudley Lee took over the running of the bar in April 2008, where a competition saw the name changed from The Usual Suspects, to Over Ice.
About October, as police and the licensing authority prepared to take action against Mr Lee, it was discovered he was planning to leave. In November, Oakwood Industries, which had a separate sole director at the time, applied to take over the licence and rename the venue One Bar. The recent ruling ordering closure stated that One Bar had gained a reputation for problems. However, Mr McGlone said in the past month there had been promising improvements in the running of the bar. Director Mr Cody admitted standards had slipped and it was now a case of, "building from scratch". Mr Cody said he could not promise the five staff who were not directors in the company would be paid while the bar was closed.
