The rules and regulations of drinking in North Dunedin could be set to change under a Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) mandatory review. Proposed changes to the policy could mean earlier closing times for liquor stores, a freeze on more off-licences in North D, and a “yeah, nah” to the iconic Tui marketing campaign coming back to Leith Liquor’s car park.
Current Politics Rep and incoming OUSA President Liam White explained to Critic Te Ārohi that the LAP is Dunedin’s individual policy on how it regulates alcohol under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act. “Whether that’s on-licence, which is where people can drink where the licence is registered – so that’s a pub, a bar, or a nightclub – or off-licence, which is where someone purchases alcohol and then drinks it somewhere else – so a supermarket or a liquor store.”
The proposed changes will apply almost exclusively to the North Dunedin area which the District Licensing Committee (DLC) repeatedly stress has a “high density of young people” with a “higher rate of alcohol misuse and abuse when compared to other groups” (Council-speak for “piss-sinking breathas”). Liam said, “To be honest, [the LAP is] to address harmful alcohol consumption but is really quite targeted at student drinking.”
There are two major changes relevant to students in the proposed LAP. First, off-licenced premises (supermarkets, liquor stores) closing an hour earlier, changing from 10pm to 9pm. Secondly, a moratorium of new off-licenced premises in North D, meaning no new off-licences would be granted. There are a couple other proposals about how to manage drinking at sports clubs, restricting alcohol advertising outside off-licences, and moving the on-licence sale of alcohol from 8am to 9am, which would realistically only impact early-morning mimosa cravings. “There’s not a lot changing, to be honest, beyond those,” said Liam.
As the representative of said piss-sinking breathas, the OUSA Student Exec wrote a 2000 word submission on the LAP. OUSA’s position on the proposal is that, while they support the “responsible and socially conscious alcohol policy”, they think it fails to “meaningfully address many factors that exacerbate harmful student drinking practices, provide clarification on points of potential confusion, and mitigate the harmful social impact of alcohol on the student community.”
OUSA opposed the proposed changes to off-licence trading hours. The DLC’s rationale with this change is that there’s been worry over people (read: students) making “late, impulse purchases of alcohol to either ‘top up’ for the night or to consume as they are walking towards the late night bars in the central city”. Bad for business, bad for livers, and bad for the hospital’s ED which reported 1188 alcohol-related presentations in 2022.
Liam told Critic Te Ārohi he was initially in support of the change, until Keegan “humbled” him with her vehement disagreement. They settled the in-office debate by hitting campus armed with clipboards to survey students. Speaking to about 20-30 students, only three said the change would affect their drinking.
The pair also asked what students would do if they couldn’t get their hands on alcohol after 9pm. “Students just described a whole list of harmful behaviours, whether that’s trying to get some off strangers or trying to pursue substances other than alcohol – which, you know, is fine in moderation I suppose but really shouldn’t be encouraged,” said Liam. “But also I think the concern that students are picking up alcohol on their way into town doesn’t really apply at 9:30 to 10 o’clock. It’s much later than that that students are typically going into town.”
Overall, Liam didn’t think that the DLC was achieving what they’d said they were hoping to by the changes they’d proposed. Instead, he proposed that staff at off-licences needed more training to be “confident and comfortable” denying intoxicated people services or to police people buying for their mates. “So if there’s a group of ten people standing outside the store and only one comes in because it’s that one sober mate, well maybe that’s an issue and that’s what’s policed: intoxicated people purchasing alcohol at 10pm, rather than everybody,” he explained.
OUSA supported the moratorium on off-licences in North D, but stressed that that shouldn’t be extended to on-licence venues, which have been widely regarded among the alcohol harm reduction community as part of the solution to reducing alcohol-related harm. Liam said, “We all know that you are far more likely to engage in safe drinking practices when there are managers there, there are paid staff there to support you, there is a community looking out for you as opposed to pissing up in your mate’s flat. Or, worse than that, pissing up in a stranger’s flat ‘cos that’s really when things can start to get quite scary for people.”
Liam criticised the draft LAP for its failure to address what he called “common sense” alcohol-related issues. “It seems silly that there seems to be a lot of student-focused issues that aren’t contained in the LAP, whether that’s glass vessels during high-drinking times, prohibition on buy-now, pay-later schemes – AfterPay for booze – social impact reporting. They all feel very common sense, and I believe it’s in the power of the DLC to act on them but they haven’t been asking for suggestions like that which to me feels a bit rubber-stampy.”
These are all suggestions, comments and recommendations that were included in the Exec’s submission. “I think that it’s a pretty solid submission and one that most students would probably agree with,” concluded Liam. You can find the consultation documents and online submission form on the DCC website under ‘Draft Local Alcohol Policy’. Consultation on the Dunedin Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) closes on Thursday, November 14.