Support grows for sports alcohol and smoking bans

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

GISBORNE’S sports clubs are expected to be given more support to enforce alcohol and smoking bans so they can follow the example of a championship-winning rugby club in making sure “horrendous” alcohol abuse issues of the past do not make a comeback on the sidelines.

Speaking at a Gisborne District Council hearing into a review of its Public Places Alcohol Control Bylaw yesterday, Pirates Rugby Club president Pat Makiri said he fully supported a submission from the Ease-Up Tairawhiti alcohol-free, smoke-free, drug-free campaign, which wants the bylaw to include stronger enforcement of alcohol bans at all council-owned sports fields.

Mr Makiri said while the Pirates club had great success in reducing alcohol consumption on the sidelines, the council could raise more public awareness of the campaign across the whole district.

“In terms of responsible drinking, what we did was introduce allocated drinking areas, just to ease the programme in, then people started to stop bringing alcohol to the fields.”

Alcohol abuse had now been eliminated “a heck of a lot”, compared to 15 or 20 years ago, when the club used to be “a big drinking club”.

“My policy was that we were the worst club in this town and we wanted to be the best club in this town.

“Seven years ago we didn’t have any junior rugby.

“For me that was a wake-up call. We didn’t have a future because that’s all with the kids, and it was all because there was too much alcohol being drunk and the abuse from the sideline was horrendous.”

Changing the drinking culture and joining the Ease Up campaign had both contributed to make the club the success it was today.

“Today we are not that club but other clubs are what we were in those days. Today we have 200 kids at our rugby club and in the past five years we have been in premier finals and won it three times.”

Mr Makiri said the campaign needed to be enforced for the good of the community.

Campaign making groundEase Up Tairawhiti spokeswoman Annaleigh Stills said the campaign was making good ground but the council’s existing alcohol and smoke-free sports ground policy needed enforcement by police and the council to be included in the new bylaw.

“Given the wording of the document at this stage, I don’t feel and our sports clubs don’t feel there is enough support around. The onus is still put on each sporting code to monitor and enforce that.

“What is already in place isn’t being enhanced in any way by the council.”

Ms Stills pointed to Waikirikiri Reserve as one place where clubs found it hard to enforce that policy alone.

“This year rugby league moved from Awapuni Stadium, which had one entrance and they were able to control who came in.

“There was no alcohol coming in and the sidelines were a lot more positive. They have moved to Waikirikiri and they have had concerns this year about approaching people and whether it’s safe to approach people.”

Following discussions, the GDC hearings committee recommended the council should notify the bylaw, with no changes from the draft document.

Hearings committee chairman Alan Davidson said while the council could not include enforcement measures within a bylaw, it would “get on board” the Ease Up campaign and ensure existing enforcement measures were used.

Mr Davidson said the committee would recommend that a proposed drinking ban around the Midway area be included between December 27 and January 1, as stated in the draft proposal.

Originally, staff recommendations agreed with a submission from Rhythm and Vines festival organisers that the ban should only apply from December 28 but Mr Davidson said the committee agreed with advice from the police that the ban should start the day before, as a “preventative measure”.

The ban would include Awapuni Road, between Beacon Street and Pacific Street, Centennial Marine Drive including the beach) from Salisbury Road to the Beacon. It would run from 8am on December 27 to 6pm January 1 each year.