Alcohol Newsletter - Winter 2025

Hōtoke Winter 2025

Alcohol licensing tips and reminders

Winter kicks off rugby 🏉 and league seasons for many local clubs and business owners. Coming in from the cold for a brew 🍺and a bite after a match is a must for most sports fans. Bring it on! And if you operate a licenced club, remember drinking needs to stay within your licensed area - there is no sideline drinking. Read on for more tips for the season ahead.

Get fired up this winter

Test your evacuation procedures

Even when it's 'brass monkeys' outside,

you need to be 'fire hazard ready' by putting your fire drill and evacuation procedures

to the test.

Evacuation Scheme Declaration Forms are part of Alcohol licence application forms for:

On Licence

Off Licence

Club Licence

Special Licence, and

Renewal of alcohol licence.

Every 180 days you need to confirm

a trial evacuation has occurred recently,

as laid out in the

Fire and Emergency NZ Regulations 2018.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) can object to your licence if this hasn't occurred.

Club licences and events

Do you need a special licence?

Club licence holders are only allowed to sell or supply alcohol to:

Club members
Guests of members
Members of other clubs with reciprocal visiting rights.

If you want to open the bar to the public or host a public event you'll need a Special Licence for:

a fundraiser
open day
birthday party or
fishing competition.

Get in touch early if you're unsure

or you could be putting your

club licence in jeopardy.

Tool up your team

Frontline staff often deal with

challenging situations.

Make sure they have the tools

they need for:

Conflict de-escalation

When and how to refuse service

Removing intoxicated patrons safely

When to call security or police

Making entries into the premise's Incident Log and what needs to be recorded.

Untrained staff could put

your licence at risk.

We recommend regular refresher sessions, especially before busy periods.

A confident and informed team is your

best defence against

alcohol-related incidents

and making sure your premises comply with its licence conditions and the

Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.

Don't forget to enter

all staff training in your

Staff Training Register.

Need a Special Licence

Why does it take 20 days?

Any Special Licence application

must be made more than 20 working days before the event. Here's why...

15 working days

are required by police and health officials to report on applications

+ days for

the application to go to a

licensing inspector

+ days for

a report to the

District Licensing Committee (DLC),

to decide on the application.

= 20 day minimum required

Has your guest register

got game?

Clubs are required to keep a register of guests who are on the premises.

This applies to anyone who is not a member or affiliated club member.

The register should include:

Guest’s full name
Name of the hosting member
Date and time of entry.

This helps ensure your club is complying with its licence conditions.

If you don’t already have a guest register process in place,

it's time to set one up—it could be as simple as a school exercise book.

Lodging a Manager's Certificate just got cooler 👍🏽

Check out our Manager's Certificate application form on our website.

The form is editable so you can type directly into the form (super cool aye!)

Renew before you expire 🎇

Expired licences or Manager's Certificates can't be renewed.

We send out renewal information but the buck stops with you

to renew your licence/certificate before it expires.

The legal period for Public Notification is now 25 working days

and most renewals take two months to issue.

Once we receive your application to renew,

your existing licence remains current until the new one is determined.

Your alcohol supplier may wish to see a current licence

before they sell you any alcohol.

If you are going through a renewal, you can ask them to contact us

so we can confirm a renewal is being processed.

Payment details

When paying the council electronically, please fill in the reference field to indicate what the payment is for.

Not including this info can result in delays getting licences and certificates issued.

If you have an invoice before payment, please quote the invoice number when paying it.

Alternatively put as much information as you can about which application the payment applies to.

😊

Show us your plans

When submitting your applications

its super helpful to provide clear plans of:

areas for consuming alcohol (include outdoor areas)
areas that are to be designated (restricted, supervised, or undesignated)
the principal entrance
the interior layout of the premises
location of any food outlets and/or other relevant activities
location of bar/point of sale of alcohol.

Tips for a quicker response from us

Complete all sections of the application.

Use the form checklist on the front page.

Provide all additional information.

Make sure your info is clear and easy to read.

Featured business

Nauti Penquin

19 York Street, Russell 0202

HOURS

Tues & Wed 11am – 9pm

Thur, Fri, Sat 11am – 10pm

Sun 11am – 9pm

Monday Closed

Website

Facebook

Got a question? Ask your inspectors.

Send your questions to DLG@fndc.govt.nz

Include the following information:

Subject: (e.g.) Q&A Newsletter

Location: (e.g.) Kaitāia

Question: (e.g.) Where should my ON Licence be situated?

Any suggestions for our next newsletter?

Email us at ask.us@fndc.govt.nz or visit our website at:

www.fndc.govt.nz/Our-Services/Licences_and_permits