File photo. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A coalition of health advocates is hailing a new law that gives more power to communities to control how much liquor is sold in their area, saying it's a step towards reducing alcohol harm.
The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Amendment Bill passed into law on Thursday.
It makes a number of changes including allowing any person or group to object to a licence application, with a narrow exception for trade competitors.
The new law also extends the timeframe for objecting, giving people more time to prepare evidence, removes the ability for parties to appeal provisional local alcohol policies and removes the ability to cross-examine at alcohol licensing hearings.
Local alcohol policies (LAPS) are set by councils and can determine where and when alcohol can be sold by businesses, including how many shops there are and their proximity to places, such as schools.
Steve Randerson from Health Coalition Aotearoa said until now, it had been difficult for councils to adopt alcohol policies because the liquor industry would lodge appeals.
"I work with communities who have been waiting nearly fourteen years for the tools that they need to reduce alcohol around their negihbourhoods because the 2012 law was so broken.
"Some of them have been fighting licenses one by one for a really long time."
But Spirits New Zealand said the new alcohol legislation was putting liquor-licensed businesses at risk.
Its chief executive Robert Brewer said the most concerning part of the law was that existing businesses could be affected by changes to local alcohol policies.
"What this means is, is that a business that's been legitamite in the community for say, 30 years, is now all of a sudden under threat, because councils can retrospectively change the rules."
The new law was trying to fix something that was not broken, said Brewer.
