It will be a dry argument for outdoor sippers after 6pm this summer in the Queenstown Lakes District following a narrow council vote to introduce new alcohol bans.
The prohibition on public space drinking was brought forward from 8pm to 6pm with a six-five vote by Queenstown Lake District Council to adopt the revised Alcohol-Free Areas in Public Places Bylaw.
Recommendations of a hearings panel chaired by deputy mayor Quentin Smith were endorsed to impose year-round, 6pm to 6am bans for parts of Queenstown, Wānaka, Frankton, Arrowtown and Hāwea.
Bringing the drinking window forward two hours from 8pm to 8am was one of a number of key changes to the draft bylaw that the community fed back on earlier this year.
The draft bylaw had also removed year-round bans for Frankton, Arrowtown and Hāwea, citing insufficient evidence to support these, and allowed for public drinking in Wānaka on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Wānaka has now joined Queenstown to be included in the bans on Christmas and Boxing Day.
Councillor Lisa Guy was one of the ‘no’ voters saying 6pm in summer is "peak, middle of the day".
"A lot of our workforce don’t get off work until 5pm, a lot of our families prefer not to take their children into licensed premises to drink but would like to have a picnic in our public areas.
"I’ve just got these concerns we’re ... harshly penalising the majority of our community [and] we might end up with a few good law breakers."
Cr Guy was also worried that lifting the ban at 6am meant drunk revellers would be able to stumble straight out of nightclubs at closing time to kick on in public areas without facing the law.
However, Cr Smith said the "really good" evidence provided by police to the hearings panel, showed they could have gone for harder bans.
Police advocated for a 24-hour, 365-day ban in trouble spots and presented data that showed most alcohol-fuelled incidents occur from 4.30pm to 4.30am.
"The fact that we’ve not done that and gone for six to six is ... a softer approach."
He suggested to councillors if they wanted to make a different decision to the hearing panel, then they should "hear all the evidence".
The council also voted unanimously to adopt an amended bylaw that will require buskers, pop-up stall holders and charity street collectors in the district to carry and display proof of registration.
The Activities in Public Places Bylaw 2023 also clamps down on anti-competitive behaviour from buskers.
This follows public submissions and evidence given to a hearing panel detailing disputes over the small patch of the resort’s waterfront set aside for buskers.
