Finding better booze policy

Our community experiences significant alcohol-related harm, so much so that the estimated cost of alcohol harm in the Whanganui district in 2005-06 was $51.8 million.

That was 10 years ago, and it is pretty fair to say that this cost has continued to increase.
In Whanganui there are 99 licensed premises, comprising 22 off-licenced bottle stores, supermarkets and grocery stores etc; 46 on-licenced bars, restaurants and cafes; and 31 club licences.

That makes one outlet to purchase alcohol for every 1440 adults and nearly half (45 per cent) of these licenced premises are situated in high deprivation areas in our community.
A high number of these are within close proximity to education facilities and other sensitive sites such as marae and places of worship.

In 2015, 11 alcohol-related deaths occured in our community.

This information provides the background for the Whanganui District Council's draft local alcohol policy which is currently out for community consultation. This policy is an opportunity for our community to have more control around the way in which alcohol is sold and, in turn, make an impact on alcohol-related harm.

The council has worked alongside health, social, police and community stakeholders to develop this draft policy that proposes a district-wide limit on the number of off-licenced premises (with the exclusion of supermarkets and grocery stores), rules about the proximity of off-licenced premises to sensitive sites (e.g. schools) and maximum trading hours for licenced premises.

By our count, in the past five years five new bottle stores have popped up with four of them in very close to schools or early childhood centres.

Many of us enjoy a couple of quiet ones with family and friends or a night out on the town, and why shouldn't we? But the New Zealand health survey tells us that 18.7 per cent of adults in Whanganui partake in hazardous drinking, which is higher than the national average.

The council's submission process allows us all to have a say in helping to develop a policy that finds a balance, that allows us to enjoy the fun and social aspects of alcohol but to also put in place some restrictions to try and make sure that the harms that can also be experienced impact as few of us as possible.

If you want to have your say on the local alcohol policy you can do this online via the council website before May 15.

If you are interested in ways to make healthy change in your life, check out the Healthy Families Whanganui Rangitikei Ruapehu website and join the movement to create a culture where the healthy choice is the easy choice where we live, learn, work and play.