Alcohol bylaw ‘loophole’ raised by Sounds Councillor closed by legal team

KIRA CARRINGTON, LOCAL DEMOCRACY REPORTER

A Marlborough Councillor thought it was illegal to buy alcohol at a town centre supermarket and take it away to drink at home ‒ and it took the Council’s lawyers to set him straight.

Malcolm Taylor thought he had found a loophole in the region’s alcohol bylaw, which he raised at a meeting about extending alcohol prohibitions last Thursday.

He had even printed the bylaw out, which he held up and pointed at. “Our actual bylaw, which I printed out, does exclude closed bottles or closed containers of alcohol, except for taking immediately away from the supermarket or place of purchase,” he said.

The Marlborough Sounds Councillor said extending Picton’s alcohol prohibition area to include FreshChoice supermarket would make it illegal for people to buy alcohol there and walk home with it, for example to the nearby Piwaka Lodge.

“So those residents of Piwaka Lodge ... can’t go and buy a beer at a FreshChoice and carry it himself across to Piwaka Lodge. It would be completely illegal.”
LDR checked the bylaw after the meeting and it states:

“This bylaw does not regulate, control or prohibit, in the case of alcohol in an unopened container ... the transport of the alcohol from licensed premises next to a public place if it was lawfully bought on those premises for consumption off the premises; and it is promptly removed from the public place.”

Nevertheless, Mayor Nadine Taylor thought, in the moment, that the Councillor had stumbled across something, and said the Council should get its legal team to check.

The Council’s legal team confirmed after the meeting that carrying unopened alcohol did not breach the bylaw.

Backdrop
Malcolm’s comments came after the council’s environmental health team leader, Karen Winters, explained how the region’s alcohol prohibitions worked.

“These [areas] only affect public space, so not private homes or businesses. And it only affects open bottles of alcohol and actual consumption,” she said. “So if you buy something from Redwood supermarket [in Blenheim] and walking through that area with closed bottles, there’s no issue there at all.”

After Malcom chipped in, Karen said the bylaw did not aim to make transporting unopened alcohol illegal, and the committee was not reviewing the bylaw, just the areas it covered.

The committee was looking at extending alcohol ban areas in Blenheim and Picton, and adding a new one in Renwick.

The police had asked for the changes, as they had been dealing with complaints and disorderly behaviour, she said.

Members of the public had been drinking in the Taylor River Reserve on weekdays and weekends, leading to complaints of verbal assault and an instance of physical harm.

Taylor River Reserve was considered an area of poor public safety by police due to lack of lighting, low foot traffic, and low policing, Karen said. Extending the alcohol control areas would give police more powers to ensure public safety.

Particulars
The proposal would extend the ban through the reserve, east as far as the public walkways at Park Tce, and west to the Brook Street Walk Bridge.

In Picton, the ban would extend down Waikawa Road to Broadway between Auckland Street and Wellington Street, encompassing the Picton Library, Z petrol station, and FreshChoice supermarket.

“The Picton extension is to include more of the Picton CBD and public car parks where they’re seeing people congregating and drinking alcohol or creating a nuisance,” Karen said.

Police reported Renwick had an uptick in crime and disorderly behaviour, made worse by people being able to drink anywhere in the township, she said. “And also the skate park, which they’re having a few issues with [underage drinking]”.

The proposal would make permanent the temporary alcohol control area established during events such as Marlborough Wine and Food Festival, along High Street between Alma Street and Inkerman Street.

Councillor Allanah Burgess encouraged the public to have their voices heard and make a submission on the proposed changes.

“That way we know exactly what [the public] want, because I also noticed these things in our community, and I’m fully supportive of this happening,” she said.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.