Developing a local alcohol policy for Kāpiti

Photo showing a bar, with alcohol on shelves, two bartenders working, and a man in the foreground, slightly out of focus We’re looking at how we can reduce alcohol-related harm in Kāpiti.

While most people drink responsibly, the negative impacts from drinking, including binge drinking, public intoxication and addiction, have long been a concern in the community. Injury, family violence, long-term health issues, road death, crime and foetal alcohol syndrome are some of the harms caused by alcohol.

Council is working with Health and Police to see if better control of alcohol sale and supply could improve our communities’ wellbeing. One way we can support this kaupapa (initiative) is through a local alcohol policy.

What it is

A local alcohol policy is a set of decisions made by a council in consultation with their community that the local licensing committee must take into account. These policies are supported by the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, and cover particular aspects of licensing decisions for sale and supply of alcohol in that area.

If a local alcohol policy is in place, the licensing body (in Kāpiti, the District Licensing Committee) must consider that policy when making decisions about applications for an alcohol licence.

Local alcohol policies can:

limit where club, on-, and off-licensed premises can operate in an area, or how close they can be to facilities like schools
limit the number of new club, on-, or off-licences that can be issued in a particular area
restrict or extend the maximum trading hours set in the Act
recommend discretionary conditions on licences or groups of licences, and/or impose ‘one-way door’ restrictions, so patrons can’t enter or re-enter a premises after a particular time
set different rules for different areas in the district.

What’s happening

Investigating and developing a local alcohol policy requires a number of steps, and it can take several years to draft a provisional policy. The provisional policy is subject to an appeals process, which can extend the time before the policy can be formally adopted.

Phase one of this process is to understand the community’s views on alcohol and potential additional controls on its sale and supply, assess if a local alcohol policy would be beneficial for Kāpiti, and work with Regional Public Health and Police to identify alcohol-related issues in the District.

A community survey completed by over 400 submitters in late 2021 has shown broad support for stronger measures to control the sale and supply of alcohol in Kāpiti.

The purpose of the survey was to provide a better understanding of the community’s attitudes and behaviour in relation to alcohol, and to get indicative feedback on potential policy settings.

Read the results of the survey[PDF 1.1 MB].

Next steps

Council is required to partner with Regional Public Health in the development of a Kāpiti Coast District Local Alcohol Policy.

Because of the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to reprioritise their work, Regional Public Health has been unable to provide resource to support us in this work to date. This led to a delay to our original timeframe.

Work has now resumed on the project. Council and Regional Health are gathering the evidential information required to support a decision to proceed with a local alcohol policy or not. We have also reconnected with Police and our iwi partners on the work.

Once this work is complete and if Council decides to proceed with a local alcohol policy for Kāpiti we'll consult with the community on a draft policy.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

Project phases

We'll be following these phases in this process. Note that after research and consultation we may determine a local alcohol policy is not required, in which case the final phases will not be needed.

Date	Phase
2021/22	Research Research and community engagement on local alcohol use and harm.
2022/23	Decision Decision to proceed with developing a local alcohol policy.
March 2023	Draft Develop draft with Police, licensing inspectors and medical officers of health.
April 2023	Consult Consult the community. Prepare provisional local alcohol policy based on feedback.
TBC	Provisional LAP Adopt provisional local alcohol policy. Can be appealed from 30 days after adoption.
TBC	Adopt local alcohol policy is final 0 days after publicly notified, or after any appeals are resolved.