Auckland may join booze-ad ban

Councillors are being asked to stop promoting alcohol brands on council land and buildings. Photo / Richard Robinson.

Bylaw hearings panel recommends city stops the promotion of alcohol brands on council land or buildings.

Auckland Council may follow the example of its transport arm and ban the advertising of alcohol on its land and buildings.

Signs advertising everything from real estate to sandwich boards are due to be approved at today's governing body meeting as part of a new citywide signage bylaw.

Councillors are also being asked to go outside the scope of the bylaw review and stop promoting alcohol brands on council land and buildings.

Auckland Transport bans alcohol advertising on its buildings and services and gives "preference to advertising which supports health and healthy lifestyle choices".

The bylaw hearings panel has recommended this be extended to buildings, land or services owned and operated by the council and its subsidiaries. The ban has the support of the Mangere-Otahuhu Local Board, which wants the council to take a leadership position on alcohol advertising, which it says normalises drinking and exposes children to alcohol.

The board views signs advertising alcohol, psychoactive substances and gambling in its area as inappropriate and supports tighter controls.

Alcohol Healthwatch director Rebecca Williams is also supportive of a council-wide ban on alcohol advertising, saying research showed it encouraged children to take up drinking. A ban would align with the council's goal to reduce harm in the city, she said.

"We don't have many levers to achieve harm reduction at a local level," Ms Williams said.

Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Bruce Robertson said a council ban on alcohol advertising would have little impact on bars, restaurants and hotels, which mostly advertised alcohol on their premises.

A spokeswoman for brewery Lion New Zealand said: "We are not in a position to comment at this point without understanding more of what the council are proposing."

The combined Auckland Council and Auckland Transport signage bylaw attracted 183 submissions, with the greatest interest coming from businesses concerned about the rules for sandwich boards on the footpath.

The panel has recommended businesses can put out a sandwich board if there is a street frontage of 2m or more, and suggested relaxing rules for businesses not at ground level to display portable signs on footpaths.

The panel has also stuck with restricting residential property sale signs to 1.8sq m and 2m high. One sign company, supported by Harcourts, wanted more generous dimensions, citing 2.5sq m signs 2.5m high in the former Manukau City.

A proposed requirement for signs along bus routes to be set back by 0.8m from the kerb has stayed. A lawyer for six business associations, Grant Hewison, said a 0.8m clearance might be appropriate at bus stops for passenger safety, but extending it along entire routes would be "unnecessary and problematic".

The signage bylaw is expected to come into effect on October 1.