The uphill battle to open new bars on Courtenay Place

Saturday, 17 June 2023

Jose Ubiaga says it’s “very, very frustrating” to have the application for a liquor licence opposed.

Wellington’s top entertainment district is being put at risk by staunch opposition to new liquor licences from authorities, long-time bar owners say.

However, the health agency is worried about the large number of bars already operating in Courtenay Place, which one city councillor described as the “wild west” at 2am.

Greig Wilson (El Barrio, Vinyl, Eva Beva, Shady Lady) and Jose Ubiaga (Dakota, The Residence, Rubix) have owned bars in Wellington for the last two decades.

They’re both up against opposition to new liquor licences from all three agencies which provide evidence – police, Te Whatu Ora, and the council’s licensing inspector – meaning they have to go to a full hearing in front of the District Licensing Committee.

Wilson said he was appalled when the agencies opposed the licence, and it wasn’t something he’d had to deal with before. He believed the opposition was an informal policy which could mean the “demise of Courtenay Place” – at least four new bars are facing this tri-agency opposition.

Greig Wilson thinks if well-established operators like himself and Ubiaga are struggling to get licences, people starting out in the business will be discouraged.

“I’ve been around for a long time and I’ve got a good track record. Other bar owners will look at me and think: shit, if Greig can’t get a new licence, I’m not signing a new lease.”

Ubiaga has been through the hearing process and won for Sugarwoods, a new bar soon to open in the former premises of The Establishment. He will be going to a hearing again to get a one-year liquor licence for Rubix.

He could understand some of the concerns about Sugarwoods given the numerous problems with The Establishment but said it was “very, very frustrating” to receive generic opposition to the Rubix licence.

Police and the council’s licensing inspector denied there was a policy of opposing licences for all new bars on Courtenay Place. Their submissions were considered on a case by case basis but ultimately the licence was up to the District Licensing Committee.

The third agency, Te Whatu Ora, had a different approach. Dr Stephen Palmer said because of the extraordinarily high levels of alcohol-related harm in the central city, “from a public health perspective additional licences are not in sync with the Object or Purpose of the Act”.

It’s become an uphill battle to get liquor licences approved for new bars on Courtenay Place, say two long-time Wellington bar owners.

The law meant that alcohol-related harm was the most important thing to consider.

“So while each licence application is individually assessed, being located in the busiest part of the entertainment precinct, for each licence issued there is no realistic doubt it will contribute to some alcohol-related harm in the locality,” Palmer said in a statement.

Wilson is trying to open a new bar, Saint Diablo, in the Paramount Theatre building. In his closing submissions asking for a licence, he said the agencies were taking a “cookie cutter” approach and “having a crack at Courtenay Place” instead of genuinely considering the cocktail bar he wanted to establish.

“Never in 18 years have we as highly experienced and extremely passionate operators been met with fierce opposition from all three agencies.”

The concerns about the licence included the regular spike in crime on Friday and Saturday nights, that Courtenay Place already has too many bars, it is an area of anti-social behaviour and vagrancy, and that the footpaths are too crowded.

Wilson said these could apply to any bar on the street.

Tamatha Paul said she could understand that Courtenay Place was getting too crowded after midnight, describing it as the “wild west”. (File photo)

Some concerns were more specific – the council’s licensing inspector suggested Wilson was unsuitable to run a bar because he had a $50,000 mural painted on the wall of Saint Diablo before finalising the bar menu.

The proposed use of Patron Scan – software which is used to stop people who have had previous issues at bars from entering the premises – was also criticised by the licensing inspector, because it suggested the bar was a party bar.

Councillor Tamatha Paul said footpath congestion was a major issue leading to the opposition from police.

”If you disagree then I’d ask you to go to town at 2am on a Saturday … It’s the wild west out there. All it takes is people to bump shoulders and start a fight.”

She thought the Golden Mile project, which would significantly widen the footpaths and give people more space to queue and walk through town, was the key to unlocking the potential of bars.Ends

Ubiaga spent $30,000 on legal fees for a hearing on his bar Sugarwoods back in 2021, and managed to get a licence despite the opposition.

He said the whole licensing process was “ridiculous”. Bar owners have to lease a bar, usually on a three3 to five5 year term, before applying for a liquor licence.

Ubiaga spent $150,000 fitting out Rubix and opened it in November on a temporary licence. The agencies objected to his application for a permanent licence in February, but no hearings were available until August, and the result could be months after that.

Mayor Tory Whanau says she has asked officers to look at what they can do to streamline the process, but could not comment on specific licences. (File photo)

“By that stage, I’m a year in with no certainty about whether the bar can keep going.”

Ubiaqa would like to see a more collaborative approach taken by the agencies involved, where they would sit around a table with bar owners and discuss how Courtenay Place could improve.

“We’re on the front lines all the time, we’re passionate about making this place better.”

Mayor Tory Whanau said she was working on improving the system. She has asked council officers to look at “ways we can streamline the liquor licencing process to make it quicker and more efficient, without jeopardising the standards that must be met”.

“I would also like the Government to review its legislative requirements with the same goals in mind,” Whanau said.

While she could not comment on the specific liquor licence applications, she was strongly in support of Wellington’s nightlife and said it “plays a big part in making Wellington a great place for a good time, and is important for the local economy”.