Photo: Unsplash
Auckland Council has unanimously voted for off-licenses to stop selling alcohol after 9pm, setting a date for the changes.
Supermarkets and liquor stores will be required to implement the change from 9 December.
The Auckland Local Alcohol Policy, approved by council on Thursday, will also see a two-year freeze on new bottle shops opening in some town centres from 16 September.
The council says the new rules will reduce alcohol-related harm.
Before voting, Deputy mayor Desley Simpson spoke on the 10-year legal battle with Woolworths and Foodstuffs, which delayed the policy's implementation.
"There's a colloquial saying 'good things take time' - in this case 4917 days."
Community advocates in attendance from Communities Against Alcohol Harm, Otara Gambling and Alcohol Action Group, and Turehou Māori Wardens cheered and clapped after the alcohol policy was approved.
Mayor Wayne Brown was absent from the vote but arrived immediately after. Desley Simpson confirmed he had been speaking at the Building Nations Infrastructure Conference.
Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor Angela Dalton criticised supermarket chains that opposed the policy.
"It's unacceptable for to make profit out of harm to vulnerable people."
She said the vote was a milestone for Auckland and would set a precedent for other councils across the country.
