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Exclusive: A widespread relaxation of public alcohol consumption laws in places like parks could be a step too far, according to a nine.com.au reader survey.
The City of Sydney council has proposed to massively reduce the number of alcohol-free zones (AFZ) and alcohol prohibited-areas (APA) in NSW’s capital.
But an exclusive survey conducted by Nine.com.au found only 20 per cent of readers want to see alcohol licensing laws relaxed to allow people to drink in more public places such as parks.
An overwhelming 66 per cent of respondents said they didn’t think the laws should be changed.
A City of Sydney spokesperson told 9News there is “no robust or reliable evidence to show alcohol restrictions are effective in preventing anti-social behaviour”.
“We have recently completed a review of outdoor alcohol restrictions with local residents, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, community legal centres, social housing residents, community organisations, local business and state government stakeholders,” the spokesperson said.
Given this research, the council has endorsed a proposal to take almost half of the sites off the list of AFZs and APAs, reducing the number from 428 to 218.
The restrictions on these 428 alcohol-free zones and areas officially expired on August 20.
9News is told the council is in the process of updating signage across all endorsed locations.
“Legislatively, an alcohol-free zone can be established seven days after the resolution of council or seven days after signs are updated – whichever is first,” the spokesperson explained.
There are two types of outdoor alcohol restrictions: alcohol free zones (AFZs) which apply to streets, footpaths and car parks, and alcohol prohibited areas (APAs) which apply to parks and civic spaces.
The City of Sydney noted that community feedback indicated restrictions made some feel safer in their local area.
They reduced the list of restrictions to areas with high incidents of alcohol-related crime and areas where communities have strongly advised the laws to stay.
“If an outdoor alcohol restriction applies to an area where a Sydney Streets event takes place then consumption of alcohol can only take place within licensed areas,” the spokesperson clarified.
“For these areas, businesses participating in the events can apply for liquor licenses or extensions to their existing liquor licenses for the day where attendees can purchase and consume alcohol.”
It comes as NSW Premier Chris Minns described the outdoor drinking laws in Sydney as “useless” in a bid to revive the city’s struggling nightlife.
Minns blamed the outdoor booze ban for “destroying” venues.
“For too long Sydney’s nightlife has been strangled by red tape,” he said. “Having an economy that fires up at 5pm during the week is critical for global cities like Sydney.”
*The nine.com.au poll, of 436 readers, which runs once a fortnight, canvases the views of the nine audience on 9Nation, which is an online community of our readers and viewers.
