Tauranga club tops NZ's worst bar survey

Two Tauranga bars feature in the top five of New Zealand's worst pubs for selling the last drink to people who go on to commit alcohol-fuelled crimes.
Topping the list compiled from national police arrests was the Temple Bar in Harington St, which is part of the Illuminati club.
Western Bay police commander Inspector Mike Clement disclosed that seven Tauranga bars were in the top 50 bars singled out by the police's "last drink" survey.
The survey was compiled by asking people who commit crimes under the influence of alcohol where they had their last drink.
Offences covered a big range of crimes including disorderly behaviour, drink-driving and assault.
Sitting in fourth place nationally was the Grumpy Mole Saloon - an improvement on its top spot at the same time last year.
The list was part of Mr Clement's presentation to the Tauranga City Council on Monday called "The Strand - Alcohol the Aggravator".
He said Tauranga was disproportionately represented in the latest data. Earlier data saw Tauranga bars holding the top two spots for "quite some time".
Mr Clement said the Bahama Hut was already in the top 50 when it had only opened three months ago.
"It is only going one way."
The survey can reflect a police focus on licensed premises but it was also a reflection on what was going on outside, he said.
Mr Clement accompanied a group of councillors last Friday and Saturday night to witness what happens in the downtown. Comments from councillors included how tightly people were packed into bars' outdoor areas and how young some of the girls looked.
He said people pre-loading on drinks before they went into town had become a part of New Zealand's drinking culture.
"There is no answer to that. Pre-loading is here to to stay for as long as the (bar) prices are what they are and the ability of people to pay those prices is limited."
He praised the council's Strand Nighttime Management Plan as a really useful exercise but said they needed to keep up the momentum and seek a commitment from licensees for more urgency to create a safer environment.
"We are far from where we should be," Mr Clement said.
He wants bar security staff to dress more visibly because they could be confused with patrons. There was a greater expectation on security to contain a problem if they stood out.
He also supported the introduction of a late night one-way door policy so that patrons could not flit between bars and contribute to policing problems. However it needed a universal buy-in by bar owners and the current outdoor licensing areas along The Strand would make it difficult to manage.
A one-way door means that once a patron left a bar they were not allowed back in for the rest of the evening.
Mr Clement urged the council to set up a sub-committee of Strand stakeholders to discuss ways to improve safety, including earlier closing. He highlighted how people congregated outside bars after closing time at 3am, with the inevitable risk of conflict if police tried to move them on.
It meant police had to stay "for the duration". Nearly 1100 people were arrested for public disorder offences in the downtown for the year to June 30 - a drop of 191 over the previous year because police were taking a more tolerant approach to breaches of the liquor ban.
Topping the arrests were disorderly behaviour (621) followed by liquor ban breaches (276), violence (159) and intimidation and threats (36).
Illuminati owner Glen Meikle said they worked really hard to make sure there was no intoxication in their bars and the reason why Tauranga always topped the national "last drink" survey was not because the bars were bad but that the police were doing a really good job.
Mr Meikle said another important fact behind the statistics was that the average spend per punter in Illuminati was $10 - a reflection of the amount of pre-loading that went on prior to young people arriving in town for the rest of the night.
He said Illuminati employed 12 security staff, with 400 people in the premises at any one time on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. A typical Saturday night would see security refuse admission to 50 people because of intoxication and 10 to 15 people would be asked to leave the premises.
Mr Meikle said the police had really stepped up to an extent that he has not seen before. He understood it was part of a national push leading up to the Rugby World Cup.
Police Last Drink Survey
1st: Temple Bar (Harington St)
4th: Grumpy Mole (cnr The Strand/Harington St)
31st=: Krazy Jacks (The Strand) and Rehab (Hamilton St)
38th: Flannagans (Hamilton St)
44th: Bobby's Bar (Maunganui Rd)
50th: Bahama Hut (Harington St)
- Where Tauranga Stood in the Top 50 for New Zealand