KEY POINTS:
The closing time bell will soon be ringing in Queenstown, where the local council has just voted to shut down the resort town's 24-hour party culture.
Queenstown Lakes District Council today approved a recommendation from the liquor licensing authority to move to a blanket closing time for the
town's bars and restaurants.
Bars will have to stop serving drinks from 4am and evict all late-stayers by 4.30am.
Mayor Clive Geddes said the town's residents had had a "gut's full" of drunken disorderly patrons causing havoc in the streets.
There were close to 1000 anti-social crimes reported in Queenstown last year, ranging from assault to disorder, to urinating in public.
Retailers and office workers had long complained about having to wash down the residue from the previous night's festivities from their doorways and shopfronts each morning.
Mr Geddes said the changes to the town's liquor licensing policy, which also included imposing one-hour restrictions on happy hours, were a compromise.
The police had sought 2.30am closing, the licensing authority a 3am closing and the hospitality industry had asked to retain the status quo.
"This is a signal that we are moving away from 24-hour licensing.
"We've signalled that there are continuing serious breaches of host responsibility and the regulatory authority is going to crack down on that as well."
Matt Burgess, who owns popular bars Winnie Bagos and the Buffalo Club, said he felt the move was a step backward.
The change would not directly affect him as both his bars closed before 4am but in his submission to the council, he had advocated retaining 24-hour licensing and coupling it with stricter enforcement of liquor licensing laws.
"Twenty-four-hour licensing is something the rest of the world seems to embrace," he said.
"The UK has recently changed because of the problems with everybody closing at the same time, and everyone spilling out into the streets and the fights and problems that involves.
"I feel like we're regressing."
He said the move would affect his staff, who did not finish cleaning up until about 4am, when they often liked to go for a drink in one of the late-night bars in town.
"I do think I would have liked to have seen more resources put into controlling licences more.
"It feels like majority of licensees have been punished for the actions of a minority."
The new rules do not come immediately into effect, but will be rolled out as bars and restaurants renew their licences.
Mr Geddes said he expected the process to take about two years.
- NZPA
