Planned Cronulla Dan Murphy’s megastore banned for alcohol sales during Sharks games
A proposed Dan Murphy’s warehouse near the Cronulla Sharks stadium will be forced to shut its doors during games due to a predicted spike in alcohol-related harm.
NSW
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A proposed discount liquor warehouse located 100 metres from a Sydney rugby league stadium has been banned from trading during games due to a predicted spike in alcohol-related harm.
But an ex-licensing enforcement cop has accused police of exaggerating the scale of booze-fuelled crime at Cronulla’s Shark Park without proper evidence, while a NSW court ruled the introduction of the 12,000 square metre Dan Murphy’s is unlikely to change the drinking levels of the vast majority of fans.
On Tuesday the Civil and Administrative Tribunal prohibited the megastore from trading 90 minutes before kick-off until 90 minutes after games finish.
It comes after the alcohol chain challenged even tougher restrictions imposed by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority last January, offering instead to stop selling single serve beers, close by 8pm and beef up signage and security on future game days and fight nights.
The NRL hopes to restart its 2020 season on May 28 following the coronavirus shutdown last month.
The NCAT’s Principal Member Anne Britton said the COVID-19 pandemic may also affect the development of the shopping centre on the Woolooware Bay foreshore that will house the large-scale bottle shop.
NSW Police opposed Dan Murphy’s bid to review the ILGA’s decision, arguing that a nearby beer barn boasting “the lowest liquor price guarantee” would encourage more patrons to smuggle higher strength, pre-bought booze into the stadium that sells a limited range of pricier drinks.
Ms Britton found there was “persuasive evidence of alcohol-related harm” at Shark Park on game day, and “the opening of the store is likely to increase opportunistic purchases of alcohol.”
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The ILGA found that rates of alcohol-related non-domestic assault and disorderly conduct, and malicious damage to property in Woolooware were considerably higher than the state average for the year to December 2017.
Between 6,000 and 19,000 fans attend each of the 12 first grade NRL games held at Shark Park every year, requiring about 100 security guards, 20 ‘user paid’ police and licencing cops.
During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, an average of 13 punters were evicted from each game for bad behaviour.
But Ms Britton said that figure probably masks a much larger number who get increasingly more drunk as the game proceeds, and even a small rise in the amount of intoxicated people “is likely to materially increase the overall adverse social impact on the local community.”
Patrick Paroz, who headed up the force’s Alcohol Licensing Enforcement Command until his retirement in 2016, wrote a report for Dan Murphy's arguing the suburb of Woolooware is at a low risk of such adverse social impacts.
But Sutherland Shire Licensing Supervisor Sergeant Darrin Thompson pointed out that the new Dan Murphy's will increase the packaged liquor licence density per 100,000 of the population to 50.5, “well above” the 33.6 state average.
Sgt Thompson, who has patrolled 20 game days, says the Dan Murphy’s would further intensify already “significant and ongoing” problems including patrons drinking beer in the alcohol-free zone surrounding the stadium.
Mr Paroz said police concerns weren’t supported by incidents recorded in the COPS database and the risks of the new outlet were minor – an assessment Ms Britton described as “unduly sanguine.”
“I do not accept that the risk is “negligible”,” she concluded.
Mr Paroz attended nine games and said there’s no reliable evidence of large numbers of patrons pre-loading or drinking publicly near the venue.
This directly contradicts the views of Dr Judith Stubbs, a social planner who recorded considerable numbers of punters drinking beer openly in view of police and security outside the stadium before a game last August.
It’s also at odds with a community survey which found 50 per cent of respondents claimed to have witnessed people drinking near the stadium while 60 per cent reported spotting alcohol rubbish.
Mr Paroz went undercover to one game where he was caught by security trying to smuggle alcohol in, which he says proves current mitigation strategies are working.