Neighbourhood to fight Newtown liquor store
Liquor outlet plans to open opposite school
Rowan Hunter-Hall, 7, sits in front of residents opposed to a liquor store in Newtown.
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A Newtown neighbourhood has vowed to fight against a liquor store opening directly opposite the school, saying there is enough drunken mayhem in the suburb already.
Concerned parents, teachers and locals have begun a petition to stop Vee's Liquor Planet from opening on Riddiford Street, straight across from Newtown Primary School.
Parents fear the liquor store - which aims to stay open till 11pm on weeknights - will attract drunks to linger outside, and see them vandalising the school and use it as a drinking venue.
Their protest comes after more than 100 people in the Porirua suburb of Cannons Creek marched against the relicensing of a local liquor store after getting fed up with smashed beer bottles, used condoms and drunk people vandalising the school and neighbourhood.
Community objections stopped a new bottle store opening in Cannons Creek in 2008, and the community is celebrating a small victory after the temporary closure of Fantame Liquor Store following a Liquor Licensing Authority hearing.
Before the Wellington City Council liquor ban came into place in Newtown in August last year, parents would take their children to the school playground on weekends to find equipment covered with urine, broken glass, and vomit.
Newtown School principal Rhys McKinley said groups of youths would often use the school as a party site, inciting all sorts of drunken behaviour - including once when a playground fort was burnt down.
"There were broken bottles strewn around, our caretaker had to come in early to clean up the damaged playground...it's the sort of thing that is unfair on our children and on our community, and we don't want that happening."
Newtown Community Centre co-ordinator Anna Costley said studies had shown the number of liquor outlets in an area increased alcohol-related harm, and there were enough in Newtown already.
Alcohol advertising on the store's frontage would familirise children with alcohol, with the availablity of alcopops a real concern for youth.
"It's about the future of our children, they are going to grow up in a community where alcohol is really normalised, and do we want that?"
An emergency meeting to discuss concerns and encourage submissions to the Liquor Licencing Authority against the proposal would be held at Newtown School hall tomorrow evening, she said.
A notice advising the application of a liquor license had taken place was glued to the building's window today.
The Law Company confirmed their client Vee's Liquor Planet had applied for a liquor license, and said the owner was currently overseas.
Vee’s Liquor Planet Ltd director Luv Khattar said he had visited Newtown School and written to the Principal and Board of Trustees advising them of his intentions to open a "community bottle store" and asking for any comments or objections.
He had not received any response from them, he said.
"As it is a community bottle store opening near the Primary kids school, we will take special care that the kids do not get entry in to the store at any cost and also being the director I will be running the store by myself for all the weekdays and weekends will be in on to some one else responsible.
"Entry to the store is not allowed for minors unaccompanied by their parent or guardian. I am willing to close the store at certain hours if that is required by the Licensing Agency.”
- © Fairfax NZ News
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As an ex-alcoholic i totally disagree with having any sort of alcohol premises across from any school,even if i was still drinking i wouldnt like to have such thing across the road from a school.Its common sense i feel & whats wrong with peoples thoughts & ideas these days & what examples are people showing our young & innocent children these days,not very good examples thats for sure.Like many people have mentioned its bad enough that alcohol is every where,drunks walking around doing there thing that annoys people & sometimes upsets people to the point they have to call the police to sort things out,its even at sports games & advertised everywhere we go, even in some cooking shows on t.v where they put alcohol in foods in front of children,the children probably thinks its o.k to do & eventually do themselves when they get older or something.I remember i wanted to try that for a buzz when i got older & old enough to buy alcohol.I often wonder if these children eat what these cooks make with alcohol in these foods they make on t.v, especially those cooks on t.v with children.If there children has already tried there cooking i wonder what there up bringing would be like & probably want more because they feel different & happier.In cafes which i do know some cafes do have alcohol in there cakes & things. Also like people already know that smoking is another killer & is everywhere like alcohol,you see people smoking,even children in bus stops & other hiden places where an adult may not see them,well hoping they wont be seen. Alcohol was a really bad influence in my life & it ruined my life & i definately dont want the same for my son or led into it because of peer pressure or something.Its in t.v programmes to.SO NO!
Why can't we make it a booze free country likewise in couple of other countries it has emerged as a Law that no one can smoke outside in the Public Premises or drink in the Public then it makes sense even if another Liquor Store gets opened does not make any sense. People can drink any where they find the opportunity to and can buy anywhere if not from this store to be opened... If you want to stop then Ban the Liquor & ban the smoke then it might be the best way to stop.. Also Liquor is available from the New World just couple of mins away and there is another Countdown coming just couple of mtrs. away from the School then can we stop the drunks???
It seems like the person who is opening must have done a gr8 research in the area and he looks confident as he can take well care of such stuffs. Says in the article as he has already notified the school about it and even if gets opened he is not accompanying any kids in store and in the other way around he can notify cops if any activity occurs in the School premises, that would be my suggestion to him. He seems responsible... Good Luck... And nice expressions of the boy.. Well taught by Mum..
Will the meeting also shut down New World's liquor section? It's the #1 booze outlet in Newtown - but soon to be joined by Countdown on John St.
Bring back the good old days where you could only buy achohol from bottle stores or the wholesales when they open open 6 days aweek and closed by 10pm. This will fix the promble in no time.
Past studies have drawn a proportional relationship between crime rates and the concentration of liquor stores in a locality. To name just one example, South Central Los Angeles, which until the 1992 riots had more liquor stores than the entire state of Pennsylvania & Rhode Island.
I totally agree that there should not be a liquor store in that site!
It was bad enough during the years that I spent working in Newtown that there would be people drinking on the benches that line the street at 8am, not to mention the vomit, urine and graffiti that you would find as you walked into your workplace (as previously mentioned)!
Surely there is enough (if not too many) places to buy liquor (including one of the few New Worlds to have the alcohol section to be the first thing you walk through as you enter the store) to bring in another opposite a school, which has already had problems due to drinking and general vandalism.
I hope the local retailers have stood up and said something. I know I would have!
We support this community in their efforts to stave of yet another liquor outlet while the area is "saturated". Enough already.
Well done , the community needs to keep control of their community. Does Newtown not already carry its share of social responsibility? What with the out patients from the Wellington psychiatric wards and the unfortunate individuals on the methadone program. Is newtown now expected to carry more than its share of drunken disorderly behavior?
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I also agree that alcohol be banned outside premises like smoking outside public places.Alcohol should be banned in many places, townships,shopping premises,bus stops anywhere that smoking is prohibited or other places that are prohibited.I feel it should be kept in there own back yards,bars & pubs those sorts of places where it belongs.Some people dont want to know how they drink,what they drink & what behaviour that comes along with it in public places, really who wants to know or see that? Alcohol was more professionaly drunk & new how to drink by some overseas people & the people of NZ didnt really now how to drink & alot of people in NZ started to get out of hand & get into trouble & do things that was troubled to the families & caused unhappiness & grief in the families & even ended up in prison due to alcohol related.Im also saying this for other countries who is going through the same thing NZ is,due to alcohol.Alcohol is the most killer drug of them all then goes the smoking.Smoking made me really sick & sense giving up smoking i feel alot better & know that alcohol & smoking wont kill me.My son needs me more than alcohol & ciggarettes.I dont drink or smoke.Drugs are alcohol & ciggarettes as well, whether people like that or not,they are also drugs & definately killer drugs that some people are ignoring.I posted an earlier comment saying that im an ex-alcoholic & it ruined my life & dont want the same for my son even through peer pressures.Ciggarettes & alcohol could have killed me if i didnt give them up & i would of left my son without a mum.So i feel that no-one really knows how to drink to start off with & does it because of peer pressures.Thats how i started drinking & smoking,through peer pressure.SO NO!