'Ample warning': Notorious Dunedin bar Heff's Hotel ordered shut

Heff's Hotel in Dunedin.

A South Dunedin bar with a chequered past has been in trouble one too many times and is now being forced to shut.

Police alcohol harm prevention officer Sergeant Ian Paulin confirmed Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (Arla) had decided to have Heff's Hotel's on-licence and publican Stephen Clark's managers licence cancelled.

This follows a hearing last month after an anonymous caller made a complaint that Clark was intoxicated behind the bar.

Arla did not find there was enough evidence to prove Clark was drunk but did find Heff's had allowed patrons to be intoxicated on the premises.

The decision to cancel the licences comes after the bar was in trouble for a brawl at a gang wake and patrons drinking at the bar on Christmas day.

Sgt Paulin said the bar had "ample warning" to rectify the issues after Arla handed down suspensions in 2012 and 2017.

"Mr Clark did not heed such warnings.

"Holding a licence to sell liquor is a privilege that a vast majority of licensees take very seriously.

"This decision is not a reflection of the industry in Dunedin, but rather a single operator who was not able to manage a premises satisfactorily."

Clark said he was "extremely disappointed" at the decision, which would be a loss for the South Dunedin community.

"It's a well known establishment where working people can go and have a beer."

There was only ever trouble when the police showed up and he felt he had been unfairly targeted.

In his ruling Judge Kevin Kelly said "history appears to be repeating itself" and that it could not have been any clearer in warning Heff's of the serious consequences of continued breaches.

"As the Authority has previously said, it does not take the cancellation of a licence or a manager's certificate lightly.

"However, the Authority has no confidence that Clark and therefore PC Bar Ltd, can manage the licence in such a way as to meet the object of the Act and minimise alcohol-related harm."

The hearing heard last month that several officers entered the hotel just before midnight on March 24 after an anonymous call to police said an intoxicated staff member was working behind the bar.

One of the officers approached Clark, who he described as intoxicated.

The officer said Clark admitted he had been drinking through the night, but his duty manager had only just left.

About a month later, police visited the bar again and found the cleaner working behind the bar on her first shift.

Concerns were also raised about a the lack of a substantial food menu.

Clark's lawyer Andrew More said he argued it would be better if a new manager was appointed, rather than the bar's licence being cancelled.

Closing the bar would not only affect the eight staff but also the 10 people who lived upstairs - many of whom were long-term tenants - and the hotel's patrons, More said.

"My client feels the trouble only arrives when the police visit and he runs a fairly community-based operation there and I think he feels for a lot of his patrons it's their only social interaction.''