Whanganui retailers win extra 30 minutes to sell alcohol

Whanganui off-licences will be able to sell alcohol up to 10pm.

Whanganui's full strength local alcohol policy has become a shandy.

Whanganui District Council has watered down restrictions it wanted to impose on the sale of alcohol in the district following appeals from liquor retailers.

In June council set a provisional local alcohol policy which cut the time off-licences had to stop selling alcohol from 11pm to 9.30pm.

However, that was immediately appealed by Foodstuff North Island and Liquorland.

The council has since negotiated a 10pm cut off with the appellants and councillors have voted to accept the compromise in what mayor Hamish McDouall said was "purely pragmatism".

Council's legal counsel Rob Goldsbury said appeals could be made if a local policy was deemed "unreasonable in light of the object of the [Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act] which is to "allow the sale of alcohol but with a focus on minimising alcohol related harm".

Councillors could refuse to accept the changes but "it's our strong recommendation that you do", he said.

Accepting the changes would likely mean the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA) would accept the policy while rejecting the changes would mean the appeal would continue.

Deputy mayor Jenny Duncan said there was nothing unreasonable about what the council was doing but said council may need to concede to get a one hour reduction.

"But that doesn't mean that the harm isn't there and at a recent health board meeting the chief medical officer Frank Rawlinson stated quite clearly that one of the biggest issues that he's dealing with.. is caused by alcohol and alcohol - his words," she said.

"I think that what we're are being asked to do is unreasonable. I think it's unreasonable that this should even come to a council, quite frankly. It's a central government issue.

"And the other party I think is being unreasonable in the alcohol lobby and the people who make profit from alcohol."

Deputy mayor Jenny Duncan said the changes council was forced to make were 'unsavoury".

Councillor Kate Joblin was another to "very reluctantly" support the changes.

"I think this is an excellent example of lobbying by those that have a profit motive at the end of the day," she said.

Councillor Rob Vinsen, however, argued the benefits of alcohol and said restrictions have rarely worked had "just created it's own set of problems".

"All of out social lives involve a moderate tipple," he said.

"This is what we do as a society around the world to have a relaxed state of mind and have a good social life.

"A healthy mind is a healthy lifestyle and it's good for your mental health. We should never, ever underestimate that.

"Alcohol has benefits and it's time we stopped listening to all the people that come up with all the statistics about how shutting from 9.30pm instead of 10pm is going to make a difference."

Whanganui councillor Rob Vinsen says the benefits of alcohol should not be forgotten.

But Duncan said nothing like prohibition was on the table and people would still be able to buy wine with their groceries.

"They're not the issues here," she said.

"Let's not candy coat in anyway the effect of inappropriate use of alcohol us having on our community."

"Which puts me in the position of having to agree to something I find quite unsavoury."