No complaints about Sunday ski drinking

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 656, 1 October 1996, Page 7

No complaints about Sunday ski drinking

No complaints have been received about Ruapehu Alpine Lifts' licence to sell alcohol on Sundays to people not also consuming food, reports the Ruapehu District Council's regulatory manager Nicole Middleton. This is in contrast to the large number of complaints the council previously received about the ski fields' bars not being allowed to sell liquor, she said. The point was made during a council discussion of the Ruapehu District Licensing Agency annual report which, as well as on and off-licences, looked at club licences, manager' s certificates and the issuing of special licences. Ms Middleton said people making application for special licences too late was a continuing problem. She said some groups were not even aware they needed a licence for such things as a wine and cheese evening. "It is quite unreasonable for people to apply 3-4 days prior to their event," she said, especially if they were in the liquor industry. She said if an event that required a special licence was controversial, they needed more than three week's notice, and then only if there were no objections. In the case where people objected, the applicants almost

invariably withdrew their application rather than go to a hearing. "We get a lot of objections on the other side of the mountain, and we get very few objections on this side of the mountain," she said at the meeting (held in Taumarunui), referring to licences in general. Ms Middleton said there was a large variance in the standard of applicant for manager' s certificates and that the legislation needed tidying up. Cr Joe Murphy agreed, saying there were "some real bastards" administering agencies in other areas.