Hawke’s Bay bars navigate entry age as Hamilton venue bans under-20s

Bar owners Steve and Sarah Kelly of Market St Bar and Eatery, Grant Brunskill of Rose and Shamrock, and Steve Carey of The Cru Bar. Composite photos / Warren Buckland, Rafaelle Melo

Hawke’s Bay bar owners are divided on whether to ban teens from their venues late at night, after a move by a Hamilton venue to raise its age of entry to 20.

Napier’s Market St Bar has had a 20+ policy after 9pm for about three years, a decision owner Steve Kelly told Hawke’s Bay Today was necessary to maintain a safe and enjoyable atmosphere.

“Eighteen and 19-year-olds ... are new to drinking in licensed venues without their parents or legal guardians around.

“So, maybe just getting all too excited, and they don’t make the right decisions,” he said.

Kelly said not all young drinkers cause trouble, but there had been a pattern of behaviour that suggested teens were among the most difficult to deal with.

“They’re loud, or they’re maybe being a little bit rude … and they just do silly things.”

Market St Bar and Eatery owners Steve and Sarah Kelly. Photo / Warren Buckland

Kelly said he agreed with the Hamilton venue House on Hood’s decision to return to a “20+ bar” on Saturday nights. The venue cited antisocial behaviour and damage.

“People need to understand that hospitality venues … are not public places,” Kelly said.

“We’re able to have whoever we want, and then all we want is to have great customers come in to have a great time in our venues.”

A Napier City Council spokesperson said they were aware of Market St implementing a higher age restriction at certain times of the day.

“This is not a legislated requirement, rather a decision of the licensed venue.”

A damaged toilet blamed on under-20s at the House on Hood bar in Hamilton. Photo / Lawrenson Group

Not all Hawke’s Bay bar owners think it’s the right move.

Chris Sullivan, owner of Thirsty Whale Bar, briefly tested a 20+ restriction for four months last year, but removed it, finding it impractical and discriminatory.

“We were turning away nice kids, nice people who were 18 or 19, and it was hard,” Sullivan said.

“If a girl is 19 and her partner is 23, where do you stop and start?”

Sullivan said his venue had an older crowd, with an average age of 24 to 25, and did not experience the level of damage seen in Hamilton.

He said university towns, with large numbers of students moving away from home, tended to see more issues.

He told Hawke’s Bay Today he believed it was “unfair” to attribute all damage in bars only to young patrons.

Sullivan said rather than changing age restrictions, his strategy to keep everything on track was to have numerous staff managing crowds and preventing intoxication, as well as denying entry to those already intoxicated later in the night.

At Horse and Hound Cafe and Bar in Hastings, owner Wayne Crisp had also noticed changes in drinking habits.

“Go back 10 years, people would come out around 8 or 9pm. Now, they don’t start arriving until 11pm or later,” Crisp said.

His bar closes at 1.30am and had adjusted by closely monitoring patrons, enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for intoxication.

“If people have preloaded or are intoxicated, they know not to come to us, because we will turn them away.”

Rather than banning younger patrons, Crisp believed bars had a role in educating them on responsible drinking.

Steve Carey, owner of The Cru Bar in Hastings, agreed.

The Cru Bar owner Steven Carey says managing younger patrons is about responsibility and ensuring they are safe, rather than restricting their entry. Photo / Rafaella Melo

“People learn how to drink. They learn what’s enough. But it’s part of our job to keep an eye on them and educate them,” he told Hawke’s Bay Today.

He said disruptive behaviour such as broken glasses or damaged toilets was dealt with swiftly.

Those responsible were “normally asked to leave or put in a safe area until someone comes to pick them up”.

Grant Brunskill, owner of Rose & Shamrock in Havelock North, said the bar had naturally shifted away from a younger crowd by changing its business model rather than enforcing an age restriction.

His venue attracted patrons over 25, avoiding the need for higher age restrictions by largely avoiding bands and DJs and opting for earlier closures around 10.30pm.

Bar owner Grant Brunskill at the Rose and Shamrock in Havelock North. Photo / Warren Buckland

“The young people were coming into town at midnight, and they’d already had drinks at home.

“And then they come into the pub, and they might buy one beer, if you’re lucky, all they’re going to do is just cause a problem,” Brunskill said.

“We just decided it wasn’t worth all the hassle that comes along with those late nights.”