The owners of the Great King St student pub issued a brief statement yesterday, saying they had accepted the authority's recent decision and would discontinue the three Cookathon events traditionally held at the tavern each year at the end of lectures each semester.
That meant there would be no Cookathon tomorrow, the end of University of Otago lectures for the second, and final, term of the year.
The pub would open at its usual opening time of noon, there would be no live music until 10pm and anyone in fancy dress would be turned away, the statement said.
The embattled event was the subject of a hearing in front of the authority in August at which objectors, including the university, the police and the Dunedin City Council, blamed the thrice-yearly, mid-week Cookathon event for encouraging binge-drinking and fostering a culture of intoxication.
The hearing was told some students began champagne breakfasts at home as early as 4am and then headed to the pub to begin queuing at 6am.
The authority decided to adjourn the renewal of the company's liquor licence for 12 months to see what happened during the next three potential events.
"The effect of this decision is to warn the company that its continued association with the event, in its present form, will place the existence, or the conditions, of its licence at risk," Judge Edwin Unwin said.
Otago University's director of student services David Richardson, who led objections to the renewal of the pub's liquor licence based on the Cookathon event, was not available to comment on the pub's decision yesterday.
Dunedin City Council liquor licensing co-ordinator, Kevin Mechen, said the decision was the right one at the moment.
It followed the LLA's suggestion the company dissociate itself from the event, not open until noon and not provide music early in the day, he said.
"I think they have done the right thing and we'll look at it again next year and see what happens."
The owners of the pub declined to comment further.
