Queenstown cops have used a relatively new tool to come up with a graphic view of the resort’s night life.
The police graphic, labelled "exhibit B", was presented to an alcohol licensing committee hearing this month.
It shows the alcohol-related incidents, identified by about 200 various symbols, that had come their way in the late night/early hours of a small area of downtown Queenstown over the past five years. Included are "occurrences" with headings of violence, sexual, drugs, dishonesty, property damage, traffic offences, intimidation, acting suspiciously, drunk and just plain "incidents".
The graphic was prepared for Queenstown alcohol harm prevention sergeant Simon Matheson from data stored in the police "national alcohol harm viewer" developed in 2022.
Each occurrence has information linked to it — people, vehicles, offences and infringements.
For the committee hearing, Matheson chose an area with a 150m radius from Searle Lane’s Mucky Duck, which was seeking an on-licence enabling it to operate until 4am.
Within the area there are 69 licensed premises, 25 of which can trade beyond 2am.
Matheson opposed the 4am closing but was knocked back by the committee.
He says the application process and the committee hearing look at the application for that premises independently.
"[But] that premises doesn’t exist independently. It exists in an ecosystem of other licences.
"So I’m looking at how the ecosystem operates."
The ecosystem cops are concerned about covers the streets outside the CBD bars and nightclubs where alcohol-fuelled conflicts and harm occur.
Matheson believes keeping closing times to, say, 2am is one way of reducing the problem.
He says those involved in the business of reducing alcohol harm have been watching events further north.
Through its Local Alcohol Policy (LAP), Auckland Council has just taken a major step towards a 9pm closing time for off-licences, including supermarkets.
Asked why Queenstown’s council can’t do something similar, Matheson cites the difficulties Auckland had to overcome.
RNZ reported earlier this month it took nine years of appeals and a court battle with Woolworths and Foodstuffs supermarkets to restrict off-licence trading hours.
"A majority of councils are hesitant to dive into [a LAP] to get sucked into a series of long, drawn-out litigations," Matheson says.
Matheson applauds the work of the council-employed "custodians" who clean up the mess around town every morning.
"When there’s a big night in town, they come through at 4am onwards and they clean the streets.
"So when your business operators come in in the mornings, sometimes they will find vomit and urine at the door, but generally the streets are clean.
"The majority of the times you come to town there is no evidence that anything has gone on."
Matheson says while locals might not be directly affected by alcohol harm issues, they do pay indirectly, through pressure placed on Lakes District Hospital, the ambulance service, fireys, and the "stress and pressure" that goes on our infrastructure systems.
