Students and police united to object to Eleven Bar’s liquor licence renewal at a public hearing on Friday February 17, concerned about the potential harm the establishment could be causing to the “vulnerable student population”. An ex-employee has called the bar “the most cooked place I’ve ever worked”, but bar management has vowed to be more vigilant.
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) represented the student voice at the hearing. Long-term SSDP member Jai Whelan explained to Critic Te Ārohi that the group’s objection was initially based on the bar’s failure to file their application properly, which sounded boring, but quickly divulged into a rabbit hole of other allegations; everything from Covid capacity breaches to management drinking on the job.
Police also had their objections, and shared with SSDP several statements revealing the licence renewal was more serious than anticipated. “Given what came out, I was somewhat personally surprised,” said Jai. “I had heard [about] incidents but had been unable to substantiate [them].”
Four parties objected to the licence renewal: SSDP, Police, a medical officer and a licence inspector. Police actually applied to cancel the licence three separate times, and inspectors found four required licences and crucial systems missing (fire, training, manager register, manager list). Police also reported six instances of Local Alcohol Policy breaches, and witness testimony recorded three to five instances of managers drinking on the job, one of whom said that the managers were treating the bar as “their own private drinking establishment”. Further allegations include management downplaying two instances of predatory behaviour on the premises.
Prakash Khattri is listed as a duty manager on the renewal application and is a shareholder in the business. He said during the hearing that mistakes had been made at the bar, but he was unaware of them because he was busy with his business in Cromwell. This included not being aware of Covid capacity violations until six months after the fact. Khattri committed to spending more time overseeing his Dunedin bar by acting as the sole director and shareholder, effective December 20 last year. The Alcohol and Regulatory Licensing Authority had not been notified of this change, as is required.
With the first O-Week after a two year hiatus fast-approaching, these allegations spurred SSDP to redouble their efforts to prevent the bar from remaining open in a notoriously booze-heavy week. “Ultimately, we think given the timing of the renewal, if Eleven is not fulfilling obligations under the Act, we don’t want that harm to continue into the following week,” said Jai.
The hearing itself was a bit of a slog, Critic Te Ārohi can confirm. “It was an interesting experience,” said Jai, “somewhat frustrating, though I wasn’t surprised at how long it took.” The hearing was adjourned indefinitely after several hours of debate over which statements and witnesses were admissible. Though Jai was “not too stressed about waiting for the next hearing”, he was worried about those who may be harmed in the meantime. “People are going to get hurt,” he said.
Since its conception in 2020, SSDP has pushed for “drug policy reform on all levels that will reduce harm and empower individuals to make informed decisions through education around drugs.” More recently, SSDP have spearheaded a focus on liquor licence renewals as a way to ensure all vendors are properly trained to respond to drug-related harm (yes, alcohol is a drug). This includes not only alcohol poisoning, but also the serious risks when psychoactive chemicals are combined with alcohol.
SSDP doesn't want to shut bars down - they’re just fans of “well-managed premises”, as Jai put it. “Drug-related harm can also include harm that is exacerbated or caused by bad drug policy, and that is something SSDP is also keen to reduce – not just drug harm,” he told Critic. Staff should be trained in harm reduction and have overdose medications like Naloxone on-hand according to Jai: “Bars are a place where people use drugs. You’re lying to yourself if you say that isn’t where it’s happening.”
The group were unable to prevent Eleven Bar from operating during O-Week. Critic will continue reporting on this story as it unfolds.