Wellington Police have objected to the liquor licence renewals of a dozen bowls clubs in the region.
The move has come as a shock to Wellington Bowls chairman Mark O’Connor, who said he doubts any bowls club has had a breach of its liquor licence.
“It’s come out of nowhere. We were expecting our licence to be reviewed as per normal and then we received an email from the Porirua City Council advising us the police had opposed our licence,” he said.
The response said police are concerned about the days and late hours the renewals are for. It said this included periods when police calls peak.
Alcohol harm reduction coordinator Senior Sergeant Scott Dunn said in a statement that at least one Wellington bowling club has already changed their hours to 10am-10pm and this hasn’t been opposed.
He said police are not wanting to see clubs go ‘dry’ but do want an explanation for the hours applied for.
Mark O’Connor is also President of Whitby Bowling Club, where a liquor licence allows the club to serve alcohol between 11am and 7pm-10pm depending on the day of the week except for Saturdays. On that day, alcohol can be served until midnight.
They have requested the same licence.
He said Whitby Bowling Club has never had a breach or police visit in its 40 years of operating.
“Most of these clubs are small and the revenue that they achieve through the bar helps the upkeep of the greens, the upkeep of the building.
“This week, we were open Friday from 4pm till 8pm and we served a $5 meal to our members,” he said.
The bowls season starts again in September, with clubs opening as often as they choose for events for members, the hiring of the space for private events or bar service over the winter.
He said the long hours applied for in liquor licences by bowls clubs is to deal with the range of event times such as all-day tournaments or galas.
“Clubs can open the bar early, most of them don’t, but it covers a lot of eventualities for it.
“If they restrict our licence, if we wanted to have a social function in the evening for club members, we would then have to apply for a special licence,” he said.
Senior Sergeant Dunn said the licence renewals are applying for longer periods of alcohol serving than many other outlets.
"Anyone wishing to operate past approximately 2200hrs, without qualified duty managers, need to ensure they have sufficient processes in place, ideally in the form of host responsibility policies and qualified duty managers," he said in a statement, noting that anyone can manage club bars under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.
Mark O’Connor said most clubs are “a bit disappointed".
He said most members are of an older age group, who use the club as a social link to the community.
“Alcohol harm whilst is important, I don’t think bowls clubs contribute to it in a great way.”
Newtown Bowling Club’s secretary Lorraine Brennan says it wants answers as to why police have opposed their licence renewal to continue serving alcohol from Monday to Sunday 8am-11pm.
“We’re all responsible in terms of interpreting the law and sticking to the rules. Most of our members are a little older anyway. We are having a lot of younger ones coming as we’re trying to introduce bowls in the new way that Bowls New Zealand wants it to be,” she said.
Ms Brennan said the club has had no liquor licence breaches and no complaints from neighbouring houses.
She said the club holds an important role in the community and sports clubs should be promoted for that, rather than “down-trodden and bullied".
Ms Brennan said the club is willing to work with police to reduce alcohol harm.
“We need the police to advise us not bully us,” she said.
“It will actually be interesting to see how many breaches police think have occurred with bowling clubs,” she said.
Mark O’Connor says he’s waiting for a detailed report from police on their grounds for opposition.
Police and bowls clubs are holding a meeting later this month to discuss both parties concerns.
The applications and all information from parties will then be considered by District Licensing Committees.
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