The Trusts’ five-year, $40 million expansion plan stumbled at its first hurdle, with an application to open a bottle store in low-income Glen Eden knocked back after a hearing that included sharp criticism
by police officers.

The community-owned business, which has a monopoly on liquor sales in West Auckland, is now weighing up whether to push ahead with three more licensing applications. It will also have a strategic review in the New Year, but chief executive Allan Pollard says that was always planned.

A lobby group has already reached its verdict.

“This decision poses a significant impediment, if not a potential death knell, to The Trusts’ ambitious $40m expansion plan, which had prioritised additional bottle stores. It also raises legitimate questions about the ongoing operation of existing stores located among vulnerable populations, including the one in Glen Eden,” Trusts Action spokesman Nick Smale told the Herald.

In a decision released late on Monday, following hearings last month, the Auckland District Licensing Committee ruled The Trusts’ application did not meet certain criteria under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012.

“We consider that the amenity and good order of the locality would be likely to be reduced to more than a minor extent… The applicant does not have appropriate systems, staff and training,” the decision said.

Police objected to the application. In an evidence statement, Senior Constable Deborah Marie Leahy – an alcohol harm prevention officer – described a December 22 visit to the Glenmall shopping centre, where the new bottle store was proposed (the application was first lodged in November 2022).

“I noted that the proposed new premises is just a short distance [70 metres] from the applicant’s current bottle store,” Leahy said.

Before entering The Trusts’ existing Glenmall store, she saw in the immediately surrounding car park spaces “at least five vehicles with expired WoFs and registrations, some of which were out by many months. Vehicles in this condition are indicative of the economic pressures… of a decile-10 area”.

Leahy and another officer had to ask a woman drinking an RTD outside the store – in violation of an alcohol ban – to empty her can. The officer documented a litany of drunken behaviour she had observed over multiple visits over the ensuing months.

In one case, a male customer arrived, parked across two spaces and “gave the impression he could have been under the influence of alcohol or drugs”.

The officer working with Leahy said “All good, he won’t get served”, but a minute later, he emerged from The Trusts’ store with two RTDs.

A security guard had no ID or badge to identify his role. One car occupant had shouted at Leahy: “I hate the pigs.” Another had smashed bottles. One customer – who was refused service at 9pm as the store was closing – was so inebriated he stumbled past his car, which had parked out front just moments before, without apparently recognising it.

During a September 2023 visit, a bushy area near the existing store “was heavily littered with alcohol-related rubbish”, despite having been cleared two days earlier, Leahy said.

Nearby store managers said they were still constantly dealing with alcohol-related issues.

A key police complaint was that customers were allowed to break into boxes for single-can sales, many of which they said went to street drinkers.

Although police still objected to the application for a second store in Glenmall, Leahy accepted some changes had been made. Pollard said The Trusts voluntarily barred single-unit sales from March this year.

‘Deprived’ area

Giving evidence for the Ministry of Health, compliance officer Nick Sykes said the area was “deprived” by several criteria, including 2018 Census data that showed 45 per cent of locals earned less than $30,000.

Glen Eden had a greater proportion of Māori and Pacific people than the wider Auckland area, Sykes said.

He added: “It is widely acknowledged that members of these communities are disproportionately affected by alcohol-related harm. Given that the above-mentioned locations have higher-than-average Māori and Pacific populations, an additional alcohol outlet would likely impact these vulnerable communities disproportionately.”

While The Trusts’ existing Glenmall store had a social responsibility policy, it was not tailored to the characteristics of the area, which “suggested little forethought or insight by the applicant”.

During a September 2023 visit to the Glenmall store, Sykes said he saw “a mattress and significant alcohol waste” amongst the foliage.

‘Professionals’

In his rebuttal, Pollard said, “Deprivation is a complex issue, and although Glen Eden is relatively deprived, it is higher than the Auckland average [with] regard to the number of people earning between $70‚000 and $100,000 per annum who identify as ‘professionals’.”

Although police and Ministry of Health evidence had detailed many individual instances of harm, statistics showed that alcohol-related offending the areas had actually “fallen in 2022/23, as compared to 2020/21 and 2021/2022″, according to Police statistics.

Three applications now up in the air

“We are still working through the decision, but respect what was a fair process with the application,” Pollard told the Herald.

“We currently have three applications outstanding, two retail and one on-premise. We have objectors both inside and outside West Auckland for all three and are firming up our position on whether we will proceed to a hearing or not,” the CEO said.

One of the applications is to expand a bottle store in Swanson. The second is for a new off-licence in New Lynn on the corner of Portage Rd and Great North Rd. “We are also working on a pop-up hospitality offer in Te Atatū Penninsula, but again have received objections,” Pollard said.

“We will need to have a thorough review and unpack our strategy in light of these difficulties, like any business,” he said.

“It is not just The Trusts but the whole country that is having issues with liquor licence applications, both on and off-premise, as it appears to me that we are seeing licences objected to by the public or the agencies with most new applications and some existing, so yes, [that’s] something we will discuss with our boards as part of our annual strategic review process in February, which was always planned.

“Any changes to strategy will be reported to the public, probably in March [or] April next year.”

Attempt to stop $179m ‘bleed’

The Waitākere and Portage Trusts – run by a single entity, commonly known as The Trusts – controls most liquor sales in most of West Auckland through its bottle stores and pubs.

For its 2023 financial year, The Trusts reported operating revenue of $137.7m and a net loss of $3.5m.

Some $1.4m was returned to the community in sponsorship and donations.

Earlier this year, The Trusts said it planned to spend up to $40m over five years to freshen up its existing properties and open up to 10 new bottle stores and on-licence venues, citing a survey that found West Auckland has a lower percentage of liquor licences per 10,000 people than other areas of Auckland.

It said the plan and other measures would boost revenue and profitability, allowing The Trusts to target $165m in revenue and a $5m return to the community by 2028.

The expansion programme was seen in part as a way to address a $179m revenue “bleed” identified in research commissioned by The Trusts – that is, money spent by West Aucklanders when travelling outside of Trusts-controlled areas to buy alcohol.

Smale’s group – which recently had a dig at Pollard’s pay – wants The Trusts opened up to competition, which it says would lead to better service, tighter operations and more competitive pricing. It also argues The Trusts (which has $22m in cash and equivalents, $14m in investment funds and $18m in investment property) could return $5m to the community today.

Trusts Action wants the $40m expansion plan to a referendum. Pollard says The Trusts’ board, which is elected by a popular vote, has to approve every project budgeted above $250,000 under the $40m expansion plan.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.