Early engagement on the Local Alcohol Policy took place from 1 June 2022 to 1 July 2022 and focused on the community's views on bottle stores in the district.

A total of 206 submissions were received. Responses to the submission questions are noted below.

Do you believe there should be restrictions on the number of bottle stores in your town?

Yes – 84% (171)

No – 13% (26)

Other response – 3% (6)

NB - 3 submitters didn't answer this question.

Reasons for imposing further restrictions

Submitters noted that there should be further restrictions on bottle stores because:

• There are more than enough bottle off-licences in the town;
• It’s socially responsible to impose more restrictions;
• The Te Kauwhata Trust sells alcohol and gives back to the community;
• The town’s population is too small to support more bottle stores
• Not family friendly to allow more bottle stores;
• Bottle stores fuel crime such as family violence and unruly behaviour;
• Exacerbates the lives of people who live in poverty leading to poor outcomes in life;
• Te Kauwhata will lose its natural beauty with more bottle stores; and
• Health implications of making alcohol more available in the community.

Reasons for not imposing further restrictions

Submitters noted that there should not be further restrictions on bottle stores because:

• more bottle stores provide more competition and cheaper prices;
• other types of bottle shops should be allowed to open for example, specialisation in New Zealand beer and wine;
• bottle stores don’t attract unruly behaviour;
• there’s no limits on bakeries;
• towns should be able to choose; and
• the number of bottle stores won’t make a difference to how much alcohol people buy and that there should be some restrictions but not at the expense of competition.

Thinking about the number of bottle stores in your town, do you think there are:

Far too many: 23% (48)

Too many: 19% (39)

About right: 46% (95)

Too few: 8% (16)

Far too few: 3% (7)

NB - 1 submitter didn't answer this question.

When developing the Local Alcohol Policy in 2013, we asked the community the same question about their thoughts of the number of bottle stores in their area:

● 60% believed the number of stores was about right

● 24% believed there were too many stores

● 4% believed there were too few / far too few

● 13% were unsure.

Please specify the town you are referring to in the previous question.

NB - 4 submitters didn’t answer this question.