Surprise backdown clears way for new city bar
It will be fiesta time down Courtenay Place before summer is done after authorities withdrew from opposing a liquor licence for a bar celebrating a saintly devil.
Bar owner Greig Wilson yesterday confirmed he had got a call from his lawyer telling him that police, Te Whatu Ora and the Wellington City Council had announced “out of the blue” they were dropping their appeals against his new liquor licence.
It meant he would be able to sell alcohol at his new Mexican-themed bar, Saint Diablo, now opening on January 25 downstairs at the former Paramount Theatre on Courtenay Place.
The one alteration was a 2am, rather than 3am, closing time, which was a compromise he said he offered to the agencies three months back: “They said, ‘no way, we are not entertaining anything’.”
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau was instrumental in shepherding the process though in his favour, he said.
Wilson, who also owns bars El Barrio and Vinyl, said he was “hundreds of thousands” of dollars out of pocket due to the delayed opening, and had paid “tens of thousands” in lawyer fees but was jubilant with the news.
Wilson was granted a full licence for Saint Diablo in August after a full hearing by the District Licensing Committee but he was then sent a notice of appeal by a lawyer representing the three agencies, saying they would appeal the licence to the national Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority.
Police, Te Whatu Ora’s medical officer and the Wellington City Council’s licensing inspector had earlier argued the bar would increase problems with an “out of order” Courtenay Place. They brought evidence to show Wellington’s nightlife was already harmful with the number of crimes and alcohol-related hospital admissions spiking late on Friday and Saturday nights.
Council spokesperson Richard MacLean understood that the three agencies “were able to reach an agreement with the licensee that sufficiently addressed concerns, and the appeal was withdrawn following that”.
Police would not comment on the Saint Diablo licence, nor why they withdrew opposition, but in a statement from an unnamed spokesperson said neither police, the council, nor Te Whatu Ora made final licensing decisions, which was made by a District Licensing Committee. Te Whatu Ora has been approached for comment.