Christchurch City Council could stop people buying alcohol from bottle shops and supermarkets after 9pm under new local alcohol policy proposals.
The current trading hours are 7am to 11pm.
At a public workshop on Tuesday, staff presented councillors with three proposals aimed at curbing alcohol-related harm in the city.
In addition to off-licence restrictions, they also suggested a freeze on outlets in deprived areas and restrictions on new bottle shops, taverns and nightclubs near schools and addiction services.
Two other possibilities - reducing trading hours for suburban bars and introducing a one-way door policy - were rejected.
Council policy advisor Tom Lee told councillors a pragmatic approach to new rules was needed.
"There is no perfect policy. There isn't one policy that will solve all alcohol-related harm. There isn't one option that doesn't have trade-offs. The policy does respond to what the community has told us but often the community's preferences can't be applied perfectly in every case," he said.
About 53% of those surveyed supported the 9pm sales restriction, while 36% were opposed. More people supported the freeze on outlets in deprived areas, with 61% for the move and 25% against, while 68% backed restricting outlets in sensitive areas, with only 18% opposed.
Halswell ward councillor Andrei Moore questioned the wisdom of banning nightclubs near schools when opening hours would never overlap.
Lee said the proposed policy would include a city centre zone, which was exempt, and existing premises in restricted areas would not be affected.
New bottle stores, taverns and nightclubs would be restricted within 50m of schools and 100m of addiction services within central Christchurch's four avenues and a 200m restriction zone would apply to the rest of the district.
Waimairi ward councillor Sam MacDonald said he had concerns about how the district licensing committee might interpret the council's decisions.
"What I would hate to happen would be us set a policy and then them jump out of their lane like they've potentially been known to do," he said.
Lee said the rules would be clear and policies such as the 200m restriction zone could not be extended unilaterally by the committee.
Riccarton ward councillor Tyla Harrison-Hunt expressed concern about new outlets trying to game the system if they were allowed to open with the support of schools and services within the restriction zone.
"Could an organisation give, say for example, a school a brand new playground for an endorsement to put that store where they want to go?" he asked Lee.
"I wouldn't really want to comment on that, I don't think," Lee responded.
"Is there a potential - is it legal, an organisation goes to the school and says 'hey, I'll build you a brand new playground if you say yes to this'?" Harrison asked.
Lee said such a situation could arise whether or not the council implemented a local alcohol policy.
"At the end of the day it would be up for the district licensing committee to make that call about that licence," he said.
Deputy mayor Pauline Cotter was also concerned about supermarkets gaming the system as they would be allowed to open new stores in deprived areas because alcohol sales were not their primary business.
"It just seems to me that a big box mega store can come in and say 'we're going to sell alcohol here' and we have no real ability to say no because even if people object to their application for a licence that primary purpose thing gives them the all-clear," she said.
Lee said the council had to draw a line somewhere.
"The flipside of it is there might be an area where a supermarket wants to open up, but they choose not to because they can't get a licence and how that would affect that community in terms of them being able to buy other things," he said.
Cotter said she was uncomfortable with the lack of controls councils could have over supermarkets selling alcohol, which would be able to "cover their arse" by saying liquor sales were not their primary business.
Councillors would vote on whether to consult on the plan or make amendments at a meeting next Wednesday.
New rules could come into effect later this year.
