District Licensing Committee
General Info
District Licensing Committee
The Hurunui District Licensing Committee has been appointed in accordance with s. 189 of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 to deal with alcohol licensing matters for our district.
- Commissioner - Mr Michael Ward
- Deputy Chairperson - Mayor Marie Black
- Councillor Pauline White
- Mr David Kidd
Tenure
On 29 September 2022, Council resolved to appoint Mr Michael Ward as a Commissioner for the District Licensing Committee from Saturday 8 October 2022 for a 12-month period and reviewed thereafter.
On 31 March 2022, Council resolved to appoint Mayor Marie Black as deputy chairperson of the District Licensing Committee for a 12-month period (reviewed again thereafter).
On 30 June 2022, Council resolved to retain the retain the existing District Licensing Committee members until the next triennial Local Body Election in 2025, replacing members as and when they resign from the Committee.
Roles and responsibilities of the committee
The Hurunui District Licensing Committee will decide applications for:
- new and renewal of licence and managers’ certificates, regardless of whether these are contested,
- temporary authorities and temporary licences,
- variation of licences, and
- most enforcement action for special licences.
Deciding licence applications
The Hurunui District Licensing Committee is required to consider a range of criteria when deciding licence applications (see sections 105, 106, 131 and 142 of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012) and manager’s certificate applications (see sections 222 and 227 of the Act).
Case law and guidance or practice directions issued by the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA) will also influence the committee's decisions.
Shared agreement with Waimakariri District Licensing Committee
On 29 May 2014, Council approved list members of the Waimakariri District Licensing Committee to be list members of the Hurunui District Licensing Committee. This agreement was put in place for a situation where a quorum of three members cannot be made from the Hurunui District Licensing Committee’s member’s list, due to sickness, absence or any conflict of interest. The current Waimakariri District Licensing Committee members list is available to view here: https://www.waimakariri.govt.nz/services/environmental-health-licensing/alcohol-licensing/district-licensing-committee.
Hearings
Will the committee have to consider every application?
The Hurunui District Licensing Committee is not able to delegate its decision-making role. However, if an application for a licence or manager’s certificate is uncontested, the chairperson alone is able to decide the application. Contested applications are applications opposed by licensing inspectors, Police or Medical Officers of Health, or objected to by members of the public. Only people with a greater interest than the public generally can object to licence applications.
Public hearings
If there are objections to an application a public hearing will be held unless the objection is deemed vexatious or the applicant does not require a hearing. A guide to the procedures to be used at hearings can be viewed here: DLC Practice Notice - v 3
To view what (if any) public hearings are scheduled for the month, look here, and they should be listed.
Notice of Hearing - Townill Limited
