Even spread of wine shops sought

Taupo Times, Volume 23, Issue 51, 27 June 1974, Page 3

Even spread of wine shops sought

The Taupo Borough Council is to support an application for a wine reseller's licence appeal hearing on July 10. The application was made by Mr A. Wong, an unsuccessful applicant for the licence granted in Taupo last year. At the hearing seven applications for the licence were received from Taupo. Earlier this month the town planning committee learned the borough representative, the Mayor, Mr C. S. Currie, had been requested not to attend the hearing. Mr Currie had supplied character references to several of the Taupo applicants and it was felt it would not be proper for him to sit on the committee. "Consequently, the feelings of the Taupo Borough Council in respect of mattqrs affecting its own town were not given the opportunity to be voiced and were completely denied," said the report received by the town planning committee. The licence was granted to a shop in Roberts Street. The report pointed out the licence was granted to a Tauranga applicant while two Tauranga members remained on the committee. "Wine shops can be

looked upon as filling a function similar to a dairy in a built-up residential area," said the report. "In terms of the Hilltop area the nearest wine shop is probably a mile or more in any direction and yet this area is well developed and serving a Very large residential population." The Roberts Street site, however, was in direct competition with the Spa Road wine shop and in between is a fully licensed hotel with a drive-in wholesale liquor store. The town planning committee decided that as far as service to the public was concerned the Hilltop site was located to give a better distribution of wine premises throughout the town. This week the council agreed that it would be preferable to have a wine reseller's licence in an outlying shopping area rather than in the commercial area of the town which is already well served by licensed premises.