5 August, 2020

Beach reserve opened to bars for America’s Cup

Bars will be set up on Takapuna Beach Reserve for a month next year as part of an America’s Cup event promoted as family-friendly.

The “Waterbourne” event won approval from Devonport-Takapuna Local Board to set up on public land, but not without extend- ed debate on whether a liquor licence should apply throughout or just on four event days.

Waterbourne will run from 24 February to 24 March, with a portion of the reserve at the north end near the Takapuna Boating Club fenced off to allow for liquor sales.

Activities, including paddle-boarding and jet-skiing, will be held on the water, and entertainment staged on a platform built on the reserve slope, where a big screen will also be set up for race viewing.

During event days on 5, 10, 13 and 19 March, a larger area of the reserve next to The Strand will be fenced off for hospitality and ticketed areas.

Representatives from Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (At- eed) told the board at its July meeting that the council-controlled organisation would foot around 25 per cent of the bill for the privately operated Waterbourne event, run by Squid Group Ltd.

“We have an intent to contract with them,” relationship manager Michael Goudie said. Ateed has a budget of $795,000 to spend on “summer community activations” as part of the city’s contribution to staging the Cup. Of this, $620,000 is for four events in Takapuna and Devonport, with $160,000 of that going towards Waterbourne.

Contracts for the other three events are in negotiation, with details yet to be revealed. Board members were presented a report about the Squid proposal for Waterbourne, then quizzed Ateed representatives on details.

“The site is a very signi cant site and comes with a lot of sensitivity,” Goudie acknowledged. Board approval as land- owner was needed before the operator could seek a resource consent to erect temporary structures and to apply for a liquor licence.

Ateed’s contribution to Waterbourne would be mainly towards health and safety measures, fencing and entertainment, he said. A small number of car parks would be required by the operator, above its food and drink area, a two-storey structure, with serving areas downstairs and stairs to a viewing platform. Bar concessions would go to two bars across the road.

Concerns were voiced by board members about the hours proposed for selling drinks and the impact on other Takapuna hospitality businesses. Ruth Jackson, Trish Deans and Jan O’Connor wanted alcohol sales on the reserve restricted to just the four event days.

Ateed’s event-activations lead, Brad Pivac, said this would render the event une- conomic for the operator. It still had to raise a lot of money to make the month pro table.

“This is the America’s Cup, let’s not for- get,” said board member Toni van Tonder, in support of allowing drink sales on the reserve for the entire month.

“It’s a once-in-a-generation event,” said deputy chair George Wood.

An amendment to restrict sales to the four event days was lost, but all members wanted some adjustment to proposed daily hours running from noon until 9.45pm.

Reasons for this ranged from giving near- by residents a rest day or an early night, to encouraging those at the reserve to move on to Takapuna’s established venues as their evenings progressed. A suggestion was made by van Tonder of a nish at 8pm ear- lier in the week, with later hours on Friday and Saturday.

The final motion to grant landowner approval for Squid to apply for a liquor licence was passed on the chairman’s casting vote, with a request that the alcohol inspectorate set the hours at noon until 9pm each day, extending to 9.45pm on the four event days.

Members Jackson, Deans and O’Connor voted against.

A public alcohol ban currently applies in the area from 9pm to 7am. The board heard an additional temporary public ban may be requested from licensing authorities for 7am to 9pm to help manage the reserve area outside Waterbourne’s designated drinking zone. This was a usual request for events, Ateed said.

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This article originally appeared in the 7 August 2020 edition of the Rangitoto Observer.

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