Police could prosecute the Central Otago Trotting Club and race-goers for allowing alcohol to be brought into the Omakau racecourse, a licensing hearing was told yesterday.
Alcohol harm reduction officer Sergeant Jon Harris, of Canterbury, said a special licence had been granted for the bars at the race meeting in early January but the club had also allowed BYO alcohol, which was "at odds'' with the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.
"I'm not saying we will prosecute, but we could,'' Sgt Harris told the hearing.
The Great Open Ladies Fund, made up of Omakau Golf Club members, has applied for a special licence to run two bars at next year's trots on January 2, on behalf of the trotting club.
For the second successive year, police have opposed the application and the matter was to be heard yesterday by the Central Otago District Licensing Committee.
Sgt Harris said although a special licence was in place for the two bars at the races, the rest of the event was breaking the law if the trotting club allowed and encouraged BYO alcohol.
So far, police had not enforced the law regarding such breaches as it was seen as a "grey area'', but now the "the playing field has changed a little'' and case law was available, so a prosecution was possible.
In that instance, the first group they would look at prosecuting was the organisers of the event.
"A handful'' of the 7000 people who attended the races could also be prosecuted and possibly fined $2000.
Sgt Harris said he understood the trotting club members were "well-intentioned people'' but if a special licence was granted, it would be like "an island marooned in a sea of offending''.
Trotting club president Graham Sinnamon earlier told the hearing the future of the popular race meeting was dependent on the outcome of the liquor licence application.
The decision also had huge ramifications for other racing clubs around the country, he said.
The Omakau trots had been running for 52 years and there was no evidence of harm caused by alcohol, yet it remained a "recurring theme'' from the police in opposing the special licence. There had not been any incidents of drink-driving and no arrests had been made at the races, Mr Sinnamon said.
Sgt Harris said the police were asking for the special licence sought by the club to cover the whole of the racecourse, not just the two bars.
"That's the only legal way the event can continue, in the eyes of the law,'' he said. Because the licensed area would be bigger, more qualified bar staff and more security staff would be needed to keep an eye on the patrons.
Licensing committee chairman Bob McNeil stopped proceedings so Mr Sinnamon could consider three options: adjourning the hearing to seek a variation of the special licence area, continuing with the hearing or withdrawing the application.
Mr Sinnamon opted for the adjournment and said he would get back to the committee as quickly as possible.
