Christchurch City Council has approved a Local Alcohol Policy that sets out how alcohol should be sold and supplied in Christchurch.

Any council can develop its own Local Alcohol Policy, in consultation with the local community. The Local Alcohol Policy can set rules around the number, location, and opening hours of licensed premises, such as bars, cafes and restaurants, supermarkets and bottle stores. These rules can apply across either the whole city and district or only in identified local areas.  

Our Local Alcohol Policy was approved on 30 June 2025 and includes three main rules designed to address alcohol-related harm:

  • All off-licence retailers must stop selling alcohol at 9pm daily, effective from 25 October 2025. This includes bottle stores and supermarkets.  
  • A freeze on new off-licences in high-deprivation communities, effective from 25 August 2025.  
  • Restricting new bottle stores from setting up near addiction treatment/rehabilitation centres, secondary schools and primary schools, the University of Canterbury and the Christchurch Bus Interchange effective from 25 August 2025.  

Read more on Newsline.(external link)

On Wednesday 5 June 2024, councillors voted for the Council to develop a draft Local Alcohol Policy with the wider community, following the 2023 amendments and recent case law made in the Supreme Court.

The Council paused its previous work on a draft Local Alcohol Policy in 2017 after a four-year process involving appeals and a judicial review.

Recent changes to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 have removed the requirement for councils to produce a provisional version of their Local Alcohol Policy first, as well as the ability of other parties to appeal any element of it.

This has simplified the process for councils developing their own Local Alcohol Policy, and for communities to participate in alcohol licensing decisions in their district.

​A Local Alcohol Policy may include policies on:

  • Where licenced premises can be located – including any limits in particular areas or near certain types of facilities.​
  • Whether any new licences or types of licence can be issued in the district, or any part of the district.​
  • Restricting or extending the maximum trading hours set out in the Act.​
  • Any conditions that licences or types of licences should be subject to, for example, ‘one-way door’ conditions.

A Local Alcohol Policy cannot:

  • Include policies on anything that does not directly relate to licensing.​
  • Be a substitute for general alcohol harm reduction strategies or plans, such as the Christchurch Alcohol Reduction Plan 2017–2021.

Read the Local Alcohol Policy 2025 [PDF, 684 KB].