Ludlow announces liquor licensing breakthrough

The Invercargill City Council as the District Licensing Agency has reached a verbal agreement with liquor licence holders in Invercargill and Bluff to close at 3am, Chairman of the Environmental and Planning Services Committee, Cr Darren Ludlow said today.


Cr Ludlow said the new agreement would come into effect on Monday 3 May.


“Council has previously been frustrated in its attempts to broker an accord for all liquor licence holders to close at 3am because two licence holders would not agree. These licence holders have now ceased operating, leaving the way clear for an agreement.”


Cr Ludlow said the agreement was a positive breakthough and showed the willingness of other licence holders to comply with an accord to meet the community’s wishes for responsible alcohol consumption.


However, he sounded a note of warning. If one of the licence holders of the two closed premises tried to reopen a venue under the terms of their current liquor licence (which allowed them to open until 4.30am), then the accord would be broken.


“This would be a backward step but it would be unfair for them to maintain a trading advantage over their competitors who were acting responsibly.”


Cr Ludlow said the parties had agreed to sign the new agreement by the end of this week.