Central Wellington liquor store cuts licence hours following High Court ruling
Liquor King on Kent Tce in Wellington will have to close at 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays after a High Court ruling.
A central Wellington liquor store has had its licence hours reduced after the High Court found there was "no realistic doubt" that it contributed to some of the alcohol-related harm in the area.
Liquor King on Kent Tce., close to the city's party zone in Courtenay Place, applied in 2016 to renew its alcohol licence. The Wellington District Licensing Committee renewed the licence, but reduced its closing time on Fridays and Saturdays from 11pm to 9pm.
This was done after the committee heard from Police, and the Wellington Medical Officer of Health, Stephen Palmer, who cited evidence that showed the store was in an area with a large number of people in their teens and twenties, where there was a higher number of alcohol-related attendances at Wellington Hospital's emergency department, and where there had been 1626 calls to police over a year for alcohol-related incidents within 500m of the store.
Justice Karen Clark said there was compelling evidence of alcohol-related harm associated with the area near Liquor king on Friday and Saturday nights.
Lion Liquor Retail Ltd, which owns the store, appealed the decision to the Alcohol Regulatory Licensing Authority, which last year allowed the closing hours to be returned to 11pm.
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Most CBD alcohol related crime occurs at Wellington party spot, Courtenay Place, which is in close proximity to Liquor King, the Judge said. (File photo)
Palmer, and Police, appealed that decision to the High Court in October last year.
In a decision released on Friday Justice Karen Clark said the Authority had reached a conclusion that contradicted the evidence put before it and consequently made an error of law.
Clark reinstated the decision by the committee, meaning the hours would be cut from 11pm to 9pm.
The store moved to the earlier closing time on Friday.
The Judge said the Authority had wrongly believed that in order to decline Lion's appeal the Police and the Medical Officer of health had to show that the bottle store had been "at the centre of the harm" and that there needed to be "demonstrable historical harm".
But the Committee in making its decision had only to assess the risk of alcohol-related harm occurring in future if there was evidence that implicated the store. Clark said the committee found there was compelling evidence of this risk and "I agree with that assessment".
She said while it was not possible to link individual alcohol-related attendances to specific off-licences, "it is known that more than three-quarters of all alcohol consumed is sourced from an off-licence".
Liquor King was "on the edge of the problematic Courtenay Place entertainment precinct which is characterised by binge drinking off-licence through pre- and side- loading, of RTDs in particular," she said.
Palmer, who had based his evidence on six years of data from alcohol-related attendances at the emergency department had not attempted to link specific incidents to specific off-licences, "nor do I regard it as necessary," the Judge said.
"There can be no realistic doubt the premises contributes to some of the alcohol-related harm in the locality. Given the proximity of the premises to the entertainment precinct and the reasonable distance of other off-licences to those same consumers it can reasonable be accepted that alcohol will be purchased from the premises for pre- and side-loading," she said.
"The Authority consistently emphasised what the evidence did not show or did not prove at the expense of what the evidence demonstrated," Judge Clark said.
She allowed the appeal and said the appellants were entitled to costs.
- Stuff
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