The proposal was made by police alcohol harm prevention officer Sergeant Simon Matheson in an oral submission to the Queenstown Lakes District Council on the draft alcohol restrictions in public places bylaw 2018 yesterday.
Key elements of the draft bylaw include continuing an alcohol ban in public spaces from 8pm to 8am, a total ban from December 27 to January 6 and on Crate Day in Queenstown, adding Christmas Day and Boxing Day bans and removing the Queenstown Winter Festival ban.
Sgt Matheson’s submission was one of six made to a panel comprised of Crs Quentin Smith (chairman), Craig Ferguson and Gavin Bartlett.
The police submission urged the council to go further than the draft bylaw and make public spaces in the hot spots alcohol-free year round.
"We need to take every opportunity to prevent harm."
The move would bring Queenstown and Wānaka into line with other major jurisdictions in New Zealand such as Auckland, where alcohol bans in public spaces were working, he said.
It would also remove ambiguity about when people could and could not drink in public spaces.
Sgt Matheson told the panel alcohol-related offences still regularly occurred in public spaces where partial bans were in place.
Red Frogs New Zealand co-ordinators Shannon and Ray Thomson supported the ban.
The charity has volunteer carers in Wānaka and Queenstown on the nights of December 29-31 to provide support for intoxicated people.
If the ban was removed, harm would increase markedly, they said.
The bans also gave the council the flexibility to impose them on other stand-alone events.
The submission from Cancer Society Central Otago and Queenstown-Lakes health promotion co-ordinator Jamie Seymour also called for total bans.
Te Whatu Ora Health NZ National Public Health Service Southern acting clinical director Dr Michael Butchard said it only took one drunk patient to "absorb all of the medical resources overnight" in towns the size of Queenstown and Wānaka.
Hospitality New Zealand South Island regional manager Darelle Jenkins supported a 24-hour alcohol ban in hospitality precincts that stopped people drinking in public areas outside hospitality venues.
The oral submissions follow 11 written submissions. A draft bylaw will be presented on August 10.
