Independent Review following the Inaugural 2008 Event
Following the inaugural 2008 V8 Supercars event, an independent event review was undertaken and a number of open feedback sessions were held between Hamilton City Council, members of the Hospitality Association of New Zealand, members of the Hamilton Alcohol Accord and businesses within the CityHeart. The information below explains:
- how that feedback was taken onboard in relation to liquor licensing in the CityHeart during race weekend
- why licensing conditions are the way they are for the event
- what that means for liquor licensing on your premises and
- how you can get further information if you need it.
What were the recommendations for hospitality that came out of the Hamilton 400 Independent Event Review?
Issues identified
In his report, Independent Event Review chairman Peter Stubbs noted that while the V8 Supercars event was overall a great success in its first year, there were a number of issues that could be addressed to improve on that success in future years. One issue that the review highlighted was that efforts to attract race-goers to city centre shops, bars and restaurants during the race weekend did not meet pre-event expectations. The review highlighted a number of possible contributors including: cover charges announced by bars; buses not being routed through the city centre; a lack of communication at the event to promote the city centre; crowds being put off by barricades erected for crowd control and safety; street bands being felt to be unnecessary and the noise being obtrusive to diners; restaurants not taking advance bookings and competition from suburban centres.
Recommendations made
The review recommended a number of moves to address those issues including the recommendations most specific to liquor licensing:
- That Council helps the central city's hospitality industry to help themselves by supporting the initiatives of others, and
- That no further Council effort or funding be dedicated to staging events in the city centre during the race weekend (removing the need for barricades and saving considerable cost and effort).
- Read the 2008 Independent Event Review
What preferences did hospitality operators feedback to Council about how they would like the CityHeart to operate during race weekends for 2009 and beyond?
As part of the review process a number of open public meetings and meetings with the hospitality industry were held to gather feedback on what worked and didn't work in 2008 and what people would like to see happen in 2009 and beyond. The feedback meetings also included a meeting, which all local members of the Hospitality Association of New Zealand and the Hamilton Alcohol Accord were invited to, to share their views.
Feedback from hospitality operators at that series of meetings indicated to Council that the majority of business owners wanted streets left open for longer with Hood Street closing at 5pm and Victoria Street closing at 10pm.
In line with the 2008 Independent Event Review recommendations, no further Council effort or funding will be dedicated to staging events in the city centre for future race weekend events (removing the need for barricades and saving considerable cost and effort). Council is, however, working to support the initiatives of others and where possible helping the industry to help itself.
A proposal to raise the Hood Street bollards earlier at 5pm has been received by Hood Street business owners and approved contingent on feedback being received from affected Hood Street residents and businesses. This feedback process is currently underway in conjunction with Council's CitySafe team.
Why have those decisions been made?
The major difference between special license conditions in 2008 and the special license conditions for 2009 and beyond is that there will be no change to normal operating conditions in relation to the time at which tables and chairs used for alfresco dining must be brought inside. As per normal operating conditions, during race weekend all tables and chairs used for alfresco dining must be removed from the outdoor pavement area by 1am in normal accordance with Council's licensed premises policy.
The decision was made not to extend alfresco dining hours under special licensing as a safeguard in response to concerns that crowd numbers may significantly increase in the CityHeart. The decision has been made as a precautionary safeguard to provide clear footpaths to limit any unsafe overflow of crowds into traffic and roadways due to crowded footpaths. | 
