A Cardrona business is at the centre of a licensing debate over what is and what isn’t a convenience store.

An application for an off-licence by the Cardrona Valley General Store to sell wine and beer has been stalled by the district’s delegated medical officer of health (MOH) Stephanie Bekhuis-Pay.

While giving evidence at the district licensing hearing in Wanaka on Wednesday (August 4), Stephanie told the district licensing commissioners she believed the Cardrona store was a convenience store and not a cafe as the applicant stated.

Under section 36c of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, off-licences are not permitted for convenience stores and because over 85 per cent of the store’s turnover related to convenience items, including barista coffee, the MOH had objected to the application.

Cardrona Valley General Store owner Margaret Bowes staunchly defended her application for an off-license to sell a limited number of local wines and craft beers, describing her business as a cafe not a convenience store. 

The store, located 100m from the Cardrona Hotel, has indoor and outdoor seating as well as a wood-fired pizza oven. PHOTO: Jonas Nilsson

“My business is a country cafe...it’s cute, charming and rustic; it’s the quintessential rural general store and not a convenience store,” she said.

Margaret stated that while many of her customers purchased her pre-made, take-away food and beverages, an increasing number also chose to eat and drink on the premises, which provided indoor and outdoor seating for a maximum of 22 persons.

Margaret said she considered Wanaka’s Night’n’Day store, on Ardmore Street, a convenience store and likened her store to a “community hub” similar in nature to Glenochy’s Market Place store which was granted an off-licence by the District Licencing Commission in 2018, without an objection by the MOH. 

Margaret said her store, unlike convenience stores, sold local works of art, crafts and homewares; hosted a coffee club; and she operated a wood-fired pizza oven selling custom-made pizzas on Friday evenings and more often during the school holidays.

“We sell pizzas between 5pm to 7pm so they become a meal as opposed to snack food.This is one of the primary reasons that I have sought to obtain an off license,” Margaret said. 

She asked the committee to look at her business in its totality and not just focus on its sales of convenience type foods.

“The last two years have been very difficult for businesses in the hospitality sector, particularly in tourist areas such as ours. We must continue to grow and evolve if we are going to survive,” she said. 

Speaking in support of Margaret’s application, Cardrona resident Peter Bonifant said while he enjoyed the convenient location of Cardrona Valley General Store it was more than a convenience store.

“We don’t know what we’d do without Margaret’s store. We use it frequently... we have meetings, we have coffees, we have lunches, and what she's established is quite vital for our community,” he said. 

“It’s convenient.. but it’s definitely not a convenience store,” Peter said. “To us it’s a cafe [with] a nice ambience…[and] we appreciate it.”

Other than the objection by the MOH, the application was not opposed by the police or the district’s alcohol licensing inspector; nor did it attract any public objections. All parties agreed there was no question over the suitability of the applicant or the processes in place to reduce alcohol related harm.

District Licensing committee chair Bill Unwin said applications like this might well contribute to case law for reference in future similar cases.

The committee reserved its decision.