Local Alcohol Policy

​​​What is the Local Alcohol Policy?​

The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 enables Councils to develop a Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) to set rules concerning the sale, supply and consumption of alcohol. This gives communities a way to tailor alcohol licensing approaches to suit local requirements and help minimise alcohol related harm in the district.

With our LAP in place, the Ashburton District Licensing Committee (DLC) and the Alcohol Regulatory Licensing Authority (ARLA) must use the LAP to make decisions on licence applications in the district.

The process to develop the first Local Alcohol Policy started with a Council decision in December 2012.  The entire procedure, including public consultation, a provisional LAP, appeals and the Alcohol and Regulatory Licensing Authority approval led to the adoption of the policy on 5 April 2017 and the policy coming into force on 28 August 2017​.​

Local Alcohol Policy Review 2023

Council is required to review the Local Alcohol Policy and consult with our community every six years. This process started with an initial consultation in July 2023 on the policy without any changes. The feedback provided by submitters led to Council wanting to make a few changes, which required another consultation on the Policy. 

After considering all the feedback received, Council approved the changes proposed to the policy, which are:

  • The trading hours for Footpath Areas of On-Licences are extended from closing at 12.00am (midnight) to 1.00am;
  • The distinction between ‘Ashburton urban’ and ‘all other areas’ for the One-way door restriction is removed. The one-way door restriction applies to all On-Licence premises in the Ashburton District from 1.00am.

Adoption and coming in effect of the Local Alcohol Policy 2023

The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 has legislative requirements that specify the process of adopting the updated Local Alcohol Policy and when it comes into force. A public notice of the final Local Alcohol Policy was given on 14 December 2023 and the policy is adopted 30 days after that (13 January 2024).

Following adoption, there is a required 3-month period before the new policy comes into effect, to give the affected licensed premises the time to arrange the necessary updates. This means that the new trading hours and the districtwide one-way door restriction will come in effect on the 14th of March 2024.

More information

For more information see the full Local Alcohol Policy,  the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 or the Ministry of Justice website.

Email us if you have more detailed enquiries.