Trevor Wilson is calling for the Auckland Council to take action against bottle stores in South Auckland that continually flout its bylaw with signs advertising liquor in the community.
Communities Against Alcohol Harm (CAAH) members from left Trevor Wilson, Glenn McCutcheon and Selwyn Lilley.
Photo: Stuff / Lawrence Smith
Wilson is a member of the pressure group Auckland Communities Against Alcohol Harm (CAAH).
The Auckland Council s 2015 signage bylaw controls the signs that can be displayed at shops and other businesses. It limits the number, size, coverage, and placement of them, including window signs and sandwich boards.
While there are different rules for signs in town centres and industrial areas, there is no distinction made for bottle stores and liquor outlets. Something Wilson and CAAH want to see change.
Māngere East local Shirl e Fruean at the March 16 protest.
Photo: Justin Latif
Following complaints about how difficult it is for people to make objections to licences, Auckland Council s Marguerite Delbet wrote a letter to Glenn McCutcheon of Communities Against Alcohol Harm addressing these concerns. Delbet, as the council s then-democracy services manager, promised new efforts would be made to ensure objectors would feel heard , thanks to a more inclusive approach by those running the meetings.
The question is, has such an inclusive environment been implemented?
The shades of justice
The latest application in South Auckland was for a new liquor store on Vine street, Māngere East. I attended the second day of the hearing, but also listened to 467 minutes of audio recordings from the hearings, and skimmed over almost 100 pages of evidence and submissions.
Māngere East local Shirl e Fruean at the March 16 protest.
Photo: Justin Latif
Following complaints about how difficult it is for people to make objections to licences, Auckland Council s Marguerite Delbet wrote a letter to Glenn McCutcheon of Communities Against Alcohol Harm addressing these concerns. Delbet, as the council s then-democracy services manager, promised new efforts would be made to ensure objectors would feel heard , thanks to a more inclusive approach by those running the meetings.
The question is, has such an inclusive environment been implemented?
The shades of justice
The latest application in South Auckland was for a new liquor store on Vine street, Māngere East. I attended the second day of the hearing, but also listened to 467 minutes of audio recordings from the hearings, and skimmed over almost 100 pages of evidence and submissions.
Stuff
Hendrick Lim has compiled a CCTV dossier of complaints against his neighbouring liquor store, including rogue fireworks, a fight, car crashes and alleged after-hours sales.
Street brawls, rogue fireworks, drunken car crashes and alleged after-hour alcohol sales: Hendrick Lim watches an unusual variety of video clips on his iPhone. Every night, just after 11pm, Lim checks an app on his phone. It shows a live stream of the CCTV cameras encircling his family’s petrol station - and also gives him a perfect view of the neighbouring liquor store. He’s gathering evidence of what he alleges are repeated illicit after-hours alcohol sales. Behind Lim’s application to revoke the liquor licence of his neighbour, Gurpreet ‘Guru’ Kandola, is a bitter feud between two families which has split the business community of the south Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe.
An Auckland lawyer s position as a District Licensing Committee (DLC) chairperson has led to a complaint to the Ombudsman due to her previous legal work for clients in the liquor industry.
Photo: RNZ / Nathan McKinnon
The DLC is tasked with considering and granting liquor licences for everything from liquor stores and bars to cafes and nightclubs.
Grant Hewison is the secretary of Communities Against Alcohol Harm, a group set up in 2017 to fight back against the growth of liquor outlets and pokie machines in South Auckland.
He said the group filed a complaint with the Ombudsman on Wednesday after failing to convince the Auckland Council last year that Katia Fraser should be removed from the committee.