Have you had your say on alcohol yet?

Council is keen to hear what the community think of our proposed changes to alcohol rules for the Western Bay of Plenty.

The changes are part of Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s review of the Local Alcohol Policy and Alcohol Control Bylaw. There’s one more week for the community to give their feedback and ensure that the proposed changes reflect their views before feedback closes on Monday 6 December.

Council Senior Policy Analyst Matthew Leighton says, “We want to reduce alcohol related harm in our communities. We’ve talked with Police, community groups and public health officials about how we can do that using the tools we have - the policy and bylaw.

“The changes we’ve proposed reflect their concerns and recommendations and will help make our communities safer.”

The three significant changes suggested are

• Reducing off licence hours, with alcohol sales ending at 9pm (not 10pm). Includes alcohol stores, grocery stores and supermarkets for example.
• Not licensing any new bottle stores in the Te Puke-Maketu ward
• Increasing the coverage of the ban on alcohol in public places (Alcohol Control Area) in Te Puke to cover the entire urban area, not just the town centre.

Council is also asking the community for their ideas on what else we can do to protect our communities and promote safe and responsible alcohol use. These ideas can feed into future community development and safety work.

You can share your thoughts by visiting our online community engagement site haveyoursay.westernbay.govt.nz/alcohol-review or get in touch via one of our library and service centres.

Council is seeking feedback on these changes until Monday 6 December. The feedback will inform the final Local Alcohol Policy and Alcohol Control Bylaw presented to Council’s Policy Committee for approval in March 2022.

If you would like to speak to your submission at a Have Your Say Day in Council Chambers on Tuesday 14 December, please email haveyoursay@westernbay.govt.nz or phone 0800 926 732 no later than Monday 6 December.

You can read more about the changes in these documents

• Alcohol Control Bylaw Statement of Proposal and Draft Bylaw
• Local Alcohol Policy Statement of Proposal and Draft Policy

The policy and bylaw were adopted in 2015 and 2016 respectively and are required for review by legislation.

Find out more and have your say on the proposed changes by visiting haveyoursay.westernbay.govt.nz/alcohol-review