Timaru licensed premises fact sheet

There is significant international evidence of a link between alcohol and violent crime. Previous New Zealand surveys have indicated that, over a one year period, eight percent of men and five percent of women are physically assaulted by someone who had been drinking.

On‐licensed premises ‐ such as bars and nightclubs ‐ represent one setting for drinking that can be implicated in violence, especially in the later evening or early morning. Problems can occur when intoxicated patrons either migrate between venues, or when premises close and patrons disperse onto the street. One response to this issue is to adjust liquor license conditions to require later‐trading bars to close earlier.

Police and local government liquor licensing inspectors in Timaru successfully advocated to regulatory authorities to change the closing times of all of the bars in Timaru’s central business district (CBD), from a range of extended trading hours to a standard closing time of 3:00am.