Hastings District Council criticises 'broken' alcohol act

Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst described the passing of the policy as significant. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hastings District Council has voted in favour of a joint local alcohol policy (LAP) with Napier, but criticised a government act as "broken", in the process.

At a meeting on Thursday, councillors present in the chamber unanimously voted for the LAP, which has been in the works since 2012.

LAPs were established by the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, allowing councils to develop rules around the sale of alcohol within their district.

Between 2012 and 2018, 32 out of 33 LAPs were appealed, with resolutions sometimes taking years to reach, the paper presented to council stated.

This included the Napier/Hastings LAP, which became provisional in 2016 and was appealed.

A resolution was only reached this year.

Councillor Wendy Schollum described the system as "broken", but said it was great to see the Napier/Hastings LAP had managed to get some restrictions on licences for bottle stores, something that few LAPs had achieved.

The LAP prohibits new licences in Flaxmere, Camberley and Maraenui.

Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst described the LAP as "significant".

"This work that the council staff have done, over many years, has been very, very challenging, because it is so hard for us as a community to get our community's voice into the local alcohol policy."

Hastings District Council took a proposal to the Local Government New Zealand Conference held over the weekend, asking for Government to review the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act, and fully engage with local government in that review.

The remit passed with 88 per cent support from the sector.

The joint LAP still needs to be passed by Napier City Council, with it due to been seen by NCC's regulatory committee on July 23.

If it passes, it will be heard by full council on August 20.

The majority of the policy will become effective from August 21 in both Napier and Hastings.

One section of the policy, outlining allowed hours of operation for different licence types and venues, will not come into effect until November 21.

Issues around the sale and supply of alcohol in Hastings have been making headlines, with Hastings councillor Henare O'Keefe trying to block the licence renewal of Flaxmere Liquor.

O'Keefe was unable to attend Thursday's meeting, but had previously told Hawke's Bay Today he would support anything that would limit the impact of alcohol on Flaxmere.