Napier City Council has done a U-turn on its proposal to close bars an hour earlier, with one councillor saying he wasn’t prepared to take the chance for young people to dance away from them.
Councillor Richard McGrath said he looked around the council table when he was making up his mind.
“The likes of the three o’clock in the morning is for 18- to 25-year-olds.
“And that’s not us,” McGrath said.
“There is only one place in Napier open until 3am and it offers a point of difference – you can actually go and dance, not my thing but for plenty of people it is and perhaps if we go back far enough around the table, for some, dancing was a big thing.
“I’m not prepared to take that away from our community who are growing up and doing their thing and learning about the world.
“How are they going to learn about the world sitting at home playing on a PlayStation?”
The earlier closing time was a major part of the draft Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) which also included no more off-licences to be issued for bottle stores in Maraenui, Marewa and Onekawa – the Reserve, Suburban Commercial and Residential Zone.
However, during the meeting, Mayor Kirsten Wise called for an amendment to the proposed LAP based on what she was hearing around the table.
“What I’m going to propose is an amendment to the officers’ recommendation yet to be debated, and voted on but as our starting position, is we retain the provisions in the existing LAP regarding maximum trading hours, regarding the 3am closing for nightclubs and 7am selling at grocery stores.”
In all, 44% of submitters supported the proposed changes with their reasons including helping reduce the harm caused by antisocial behaviour and alcohol, while 56% were against it with reasons including unnecessary pressure on the hospitality industry.
Chris Sullivan, a publican who has been in the industry for 47 years, had earlier said the proposed changes in the closing hours were crazy.
He said if bars had issues they were “not being run right, with little or no security”.
Sullivan, who owned Napier nightclub Roxof, spoke at the meeting about the importance of creating a safe environment using security and cameras.
Another issue identified by officers on the proposed LAP was consistency and alignment with Hastings District Council.
Hastings bars were open until 2am.
However, McGrath said he kept hearing about Hastings.
“I was voted in for Napier. It’s about time perhaps Hastings looked at itself and said ‘hey actually Napier’s going to three, if we think there’s a big enough issue with the different closing times, we will match Napier’.
“It doesn’t always have to be us going the other way, they can match us. We are a tourist town, perhaps they aren’t so much.”
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
