March 2025
Gisborne District Council
15 Fitzherbert Street
Gisborne 4010
Introduction
The Restaurant Association of New Zealand (the Restaurant Association) welcomes the opportunity to submit on the Gisborne District Council’s Local Alcohol Policy 2024 draft amendment.
Since 1972, the Restaurant Association has worked to offer advice, help and assistance in every facet of the vibrant and diverse hospitality industry, covering the length and breadth of the country. We’re passionate about our vibrant industry, which is full of interesting, talented and entrepreneurial people.
Gisborne District Council proposal
The Restaurant Association supports the Council’s proposal to amend the sensitive sites provision in its Local Alcohol Policy 2024. We have selected ‘option 2 – change the sensitive site provisions’ as we believe decisions regarding restrictions on proximity to sensitive sites should be evidence-based rather than based on intuition or speculation about what could reduce alcohol-related harm.
It is the Restaurant Association’s position that any proximity restrictions should be considered on a case by case basis, in particular taking into account:
- The type of licence being applied for (e.g. a Class 3 Restaurant on-licence vs bottle store off-licence)
- How long a business has been operating (e.g. if an ECE or school decides to open near a licensed venue, knowing they will be near a licensed venue, the licensee should not be penalised when they come to renewing their licence).
If the Council did implement a temporary freeze on new licence applications, the Restaurant Association believes this should not be implemented as a blanket freeze – rather, it should only apply to certain licence types. It is our position that the risk from on-licence restaurants and cafes is significantly lower than that of off-license outlets (or even other on-licences, such as night clubs). The Council should not deter restaurants and cafes from investing in high deprivation communities which is likely to occur if they are unable to obtain an on-licence.
The Council’s proposal to exempt all new licence applications within the CBD area from complying with Clause 3.1.1 (the sensitive sites policy for on-licences); enable the District Licensing Committee (DLC) to consider exemptions to Clause 3.1.1 for any new licence applications for premises outside the CBD; and to make minor wording improvements for Clause 3.1.3 (the definition of sensitive sites) all align with our position.
The Restaurant Association would also like to take this opportunity to highlight our other priorities for local alcohol policies:
- Differing licence risk profiles
- Modernising approaches to Restaurant licensing
- Conditions relating to minimum numbers of qualified managers
- Renewal of licences
- Hours of trade
Differing licence risk profiles
Our priority for Local Alcohol Policies is to ensure that they accurately reflect the different levels of harm from off- and on- licence venues, and the potential impact of LAPs to those in our sector who operate on-licence venues and are already heavily regulated by the conditions of holding such a licence.
We are not opposed to those trading conditions – in fact, we see them as commonsense rules which ensure the safe and responsible sale and supply of alcohol. While our more than 2,500-strong membership is made up of hospitality businesses where food is the hero of their operations, many offer alcohol beverages as a supplement to the culinary experience they provide.
In a practical sense, there are far fewer restrictions and regulations for off-licence holders in terms of the responsible sale and supply of alcohol when compared to on-licence holders. For example, when serving alcohol in an on-licence venue, staff must monitor intake and determine when they must stop service to prevent intoxication.
Alternatively at an off-licence venue, customers can purchase as much alcohol as they want, to take home and then consume as much as they want without any concerns. It is clear that a large part of enabling that problem comes from the proliferation of off-licence venues, and those on-licence venues whose primary business is not food.
Modernising approaches to Restaurant licensing
There is a risk of LAPs impacting the food and beverage sector of hospitality by regulating through broad “on-licence” and “off-licence” categorisation, and we submit there is a need to consider the differing risks posed by sub-class of licences.
We would like to see LAPs be more specific, where for example, when considering any kind of restriction or regulation (such as one way door policies, proximity and density rules or time of sale restrictions), that conditions be set by specific license type, rather than taking a blanket on licence or off-licence approach to regulation.
Conditions relating to minimum numbers of qualified managers
Some Councils have adopted (or are looking to adopt) a discretionary condition whereby the DLC and ARLA are recommended to consider imposing conditions that specify a minimum number of certified managers be present onsite, if appropriate for large capacity premises at peak times. The exact number would depend on the layout, use and capacity of the premises.
This condition fails to recognise the current cost and administrative burden associated with becoming a licensed manager, with those barriers often imposed by the DLC and ARLA themselves. We do not support the imposition of minimum numbers of certified managers without first reforming restrictions around who can hold a managers’ licence, to ensure that we have the appropriately certified workforce available.
Renewal of licences
There is no reason that a licence renewal should be as cumbersome as a new licence application, yet both applicants and councils are facing significant administrative burdens for every licence renewal. The Restaurant Association recommends the Council consider adopting third-party accreditation programmes, such as HospoCred, to streamline application and renewal processes for hospitality businesses.
This could be utilised in conjunction with current council processes: by checking whether any complaints or infringements have been recorded against an applicant in the Council’s own database, and then utilising the comprehensive vetting and benchmarking offered by the HospoCred accreditation programme, local and central governments can streamline workflows, reduce costs, and build stronger partnerships with the hospitality industry.
Hours of trade
Compared to international standards, New Zealanders traditionally eat dinner and go to bed earlier than many countries around the world. As an industry that relies heavily on international tourism to thrive, our hospitality businesses need to be able to make operating decisions that service a wide variety of customer preferences – from the regular who lives down the road, to the group of friends visiting from overseas who are looking for somewhere to sit down for dinner at 10pm.
We’re proud of the contribution our businesses make to our vibrant towns, cities and communities – but we need policy settings to enable that to continue. As such, we recommend that any hours of trade are set by specific licence type, to enable those low-risk restaurants to service an increasing number of tourists looking to eat later in the evening than what we would consider usual.
Conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to provide feedback on your draft local alcohol policy. We would be happy to discuss any part of this submission in more detail, and to provide any assistance that you may require.