Slowing the flow
The current Kaikohe Youth Action Plan reports that: "Northland youth drank more frequently and more heavily than youth in the rest of New Zealand. Alcohol was second only to drugs as a 'big issue' for Northland participants, as indicated by 36.3 per cent of those surveyed compared with 27.5 per cent nationally.
"Comments about alcohol focused on the social problems linked to, such as violence and the harm that can occur to young people when they are drunk. For example, 30 per cent of Northland participants said they had been driven by someone who had consumed alcohol, compared with 23 per cent New Zealand wide in 2007."
One of the actions of the Kaikohe Youth Action Plan is: A strategy is developed to reduce alcohol and drug harm in Kaikohe. The FNDC is identified as a key partner in this strategy but no effort has been made by council to have input from young people or other key partners into the local alcohol policy beyond the usual council processes.
The draft policy going before the council in a few days does not reflect the Kaikohe community's desire to slow the flow of alcohol into the community and thereby reduce alcohol-related harm. It merely shifts the opening hours for off-licences in supermarkets to the same as liquor stores. It does not cap the amount of off- licences.
