Curbing Alcohol-Related Violence (Carv) officer Merv Aoake submitted the results of a survey of 60 central Queenstown business owners on perceptions of safety, staff parking and vandalism to premises at the steering group meeting.
The snapshot was taken before the community guides trial began.
Mr Aoake was preparing to send out a follow-up survey to the same owners late this month or early next month so the results could be compared and the effectiveness of the guides judged in his report.
A total of 34 owners responded to the original survey - 76% were retailers, 12% were in hospitality and the remainder in other forms of business.
The majority worked between the hours of 7.30am and 10pm.
• 88% of respondents said they felt safe at night in their local neighbourhoods.
• More than 50% of respondents said they suffered between one and more than six instances of vandalism or damage in the two weeks prior to the survey being taken.
• 80% of instances happened on Friday and Saturday nights.
• More than half of the respondents reported the most frequent form of vandalism or damage to their premises was when it was used as a toilet.
• 65% of respondents said staff cleaned up vandalism or damage, "a very big influence on budgets and staff morale".
• Nearly 60% of respondents replied it took 15 to 30 minutes to clean up, "a significant period for a business to support."
• 24% of respondents' staff had suffered either verbal or physical abuse by parties identified as having consumed alcohol while they were in the CBD.
• 9% of respondents' staff had either witnessed, or witnessed and not reported, a crime in the CBD to the police.
"Anyone who wants to take part in the survey, let me know," Mr Aoake said.
"There's no names recorded, just business types and it's confidential. We'll see if the guides have made a difference in these figures."
