LICENSING CONTROL COMMISSION

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26488, 1 August 1951, Page 8

LICENSING CONTROL COMMISSION

LUXURY HOTEL REQUIREMENTS

The Carlton Hotel was ungraded, but was well appointed, said SubInspector J. J. Kearns for the police. The standard of appointments in the bars left nothing to be desired. A feature of the hotel was the beer garden at the rear of the hotel. Seating was provided for 225 persons in the beer garden (which, according to later evidence, cost £4000). It was built in rustic log style and incorporated amenities such as a fish, pond, an aviary, shrubs and flower beds. Morning and afternoon teas as well as liquor were supplied in this beer garden. The whole setting was one of peace and quiet and the facilities were not misued. No complaints had been received about the conduct of the hotel, which was one of the best in every way, said Sub-Inspector Kearns. Denis Urban Crosbie, the licensee, •aid the beer garden had proved very popular, especially with parties of women. Mr G. A. G. Connal, for the A. J. O’Malley Estate, owner of the hotel, and for Mr Crosbie. said that a very substantial portion of the money taken

The Foresters’ Hotel (two star) was owned by Jack Watt and leased by Eallins Breweries, said Sub-Inspector Kearns. The licensee was D’Arcy Armistice Urtn. The general standard of the hotel was quite good. It had a nice situation in Oxford. terrace on the banks of the Avon river but was awav from the area where the general public sought accommodation. Mr A. C. Perry, for Ballins Breweries and Mr Uren, said reference had been made to the low proportion of occupied beds in the hotel, 753 guests —an average of two a night—having stayed at the hotel in a year. The complete blank in the guest book foe a week in January this year was caused by the cancellation of the booking for a party from Dunedin during the railway strike.

Gordon Wesley Haines, architect for Ballins Breweries, said to Mr Young that the hotel was of sound construction. He agreed it was excellently situated next to the Centennial pool and said it could be modernised without structural alterations. The Gladstone Hotel was owned by the estate ot J. S. Patterson and man-

HOTELS IN LYTTELTON

A sub-committee had been set up by the Lyttelton Borough Council to consider submissions to the commission and the full council had approved the following case to go before the commission, said Frederick George Briggs, Mayor of Lyttelton. (1) Eight publicans' licences and one club licence were more than ample for Lyttelton’s population of 3681. (2) There was a distinct lack of accommodation for travellers; this could be overcome by enlarging the present hotels.

(3) The standard of accommodation was satisfactory—there was little demand for tjjree or four-star accommodation. (4) The accommodation of the two private boardinghouses were limited. (5) The management of Lyttelton hotels left something to be desired, but in the present conditions appeared to be satisfactory. (6) Bar accommodation at Lyttelton was adequate. There were no facilities for drinking at Diamond Harbour and nor should there be at present. It was understood that Mr E. G. Clapp, who leased Godley House, at Diamond Harbour, from the council, was applying for a tourist licence. There was a condition in Mr Clapp’s licence which prohibited him from selling liquor, and the council did not consider it desirable that he should. Mr Briggs said a meeting of Diamond Harbour residents decided by 28 votes to none to request that no publican’s licence be transferred from Lyttelton to Diamond Harbour and that no tourist licence be granted Godley House. The reasons for this decision were that most of the visitors to Diamond Harbour were trippers and not tourists; that the present adult population of Diamond Harbour (120) was not sufficient to support a licence; the narrow roads would be dangerous for drivers who had been drinking; the law regarding after-hours trading was at present being flouted in town and country and would be particularly difficult to enforce at Diamond Harbour.

The council did not approve of women drinking in bars and suggested It be made compulsory for women to be served in a lounge. The law should be altered, in the view of the council, to give any local body the right to initiate a poll oh the question of whether hotels in its area should be trust controlled. Mr Briggs said the British Hotel, owned by the council, had been rebuilt in 1940. He did not know that

HOTEL WORKERS’ VIEWS

There was definitely room for at least one ' luxury hotel in certain main centres and tourist resorts, such as Auckland, Wellington, and Rotorua, said Frederick George Young, secretary of the New Zealand Hotel Workers’ Federation. Such hotels should be free from tariff restrictions. Unsatisfactory accommodation and in some cases the temperament of the licensee or his wife were important factors in the availability of staff, said the witness. Staff were at present paying 38s a week for board. “We would like to see a standard of guest and staff accommodation set and enforced the commission. In a leading North Island hotel I once found the wire

BED AND BAR CHECK

The following figures, taken from police evidence, relate to the accommodation and bar trade of the hotels reviewed yesterday by tne commission. The figure, in the second column represents the average number of occupied beds each night, expressed as a percentage of the total number of beds for guests. The capacity of the hotel is given in the first column. _ <5 check was made this year on jyy H a Saturday, soon after 5 p.m. •w total number of bar customers

Review Of Christchurch Hotels Completed VIEWS OF LYTTELTON BOROUGH COUNCIL The review of hotels in the Christchurch Licensing District’s area was concluded yesterday, and the review of the Lyttelton licensing district was begun. The hotel which attracted most attention in the morning was the Carlton Hotel, on the corner of Bealey avenue and Victoria street. Evidence was given that although the hotel was at present ungraded, application had been made to have it graded three star plus, and there were long-term plans to build a luxury hotel on the site. One of the first witnesses in the review of the Lyttelton district was the Mayor of Lyttelton (Mr F. G. Briggs), who said that in the opinion of his council there were too many licences in Lyttelton at present. _ General submissions by Mr F. G. Young, national secretary of the Hotel Workers Federation, covered points such as kitchen hygiene, luxury hotels, conditions for workers, and tipping. The chairman of the commission is Mr A. M. Goulding, S.M. With him are Messrs L. C. Nisbet and B. Barrington. Mr R. A. Young is counsel assisting the commission, and Mr W. E. Leicester is appearing for the licensed trade.

in the hotel was put back into it. The police check showed that 8.55 beds had been occupied, on an average, each night in July last year, and 8.74 in January this year. Since then the figure had risen to more than 12.

“This hotel has most of the requirements of the luxury hotel which Mr Young mentioned in his opening address.” said Mr Connal. It had a double' frontage: the double width of Bealey avenue was available for parking; it was on the route to the airport; there, was ample room for extension. the owners also owning adjoining property of considerable age; and Victoria street was to be widened on the east side.

James Basil Taylor, accountant for the owners, said that about £24.000 had been spent on the hotel since 1939. The hotel was assured of a three-star grading, and application had been made for grading as three-star plus. A long-term plan had been drawn up for a luxury hotel on this site. It would be along the lines of the Waterloo Hotel on a modified scale. .

LOWER GRADE HOTELS

aged by the licensee, George Forbes Smith, said Sub-Inspector Kearns. In the year ended March 31, 2070 guests had stayed at the hotel Mr Smith in evidrtice said that although the hotel was ungraded it provided accommodation equivalent to that of a two-star hotel at least. “It is a little off the beaten track for the travelling public but for people wanting a good standard of accommodation ip quiet and comfort it attracts a good tyne of guest.” Mr Young said that the average of six occupied beds for the year was high compared with that of other hotels in the -district, the Market, the Oxford and the New Albion. Witness agreed that the high proportion of single bedrooms—seven out of ten — might be a factor.

In the last six years £10.573 had been spent on»the hotel, said Henry James Brixton, accountant for the owners.

The Caledonian, Lancaster Park. Heathcote Arms and Bower Hotels, according to the evidence, were too far from the centre of the city to attract many guests. All are ungraded.

the council had been given three months by the licensing committee. Asked to amplify the first point in his statement, Mr Briggs said that eight hotels, in the opinion of the council, were too many for Lyttelton. The sub-committee considered six was a reasonable number. There was no club licence in Lyttelton at present. Mr Young: You said the law regarding after-hour trading was being “flouted;” there is pretty strict control of after-hour drinking at Lyttelton these days, isn’t there? —Yes; that was inserted by the Diamond Harbour residents.

Mr Young said that there were 92 beds available for guests in Lyttelton and in the peak period, January, an average of 48 beds was occupied. “It seems there are enough beds—are they used?”

Mr Briggs: In my capacity as Mayor it has- Come to my notice that people have been refused admission to hotels. I have tried myself to get people into hotels and on some occasions when I have tried very hard I have got them in.

Asked by the chairman to elaborate his statement about the management of Lyttelton hotels Mr Briggs said certain hotels seemed to be able to “get away with a certain amount of afterhour trade. I suppose that will always happen, no matter what the supervision.” Mr C. B. McLachlan, for Mr and Mrs E. G. Clapp, said that his clients believed the granting pf a tourist house licence to Godley .House would increase the attractions of Diamond Harbour, as a tourist resort. The effects feared by the residents would not eventuate because only guests would be able to buy liquor. At present more than 50 per cent of the guests drank secretly, as shown by the number of empty bottles found in guests’ rooms. Adrian Edward Hall Kilian, chairman of the Mount Herbert' County Council, said there were two hotels—the Ocean View at Governor’s Bay, and the Wheat Sheaf, at Teddington—in his county. The council was in favour of a house licence being granted to Godley House, Diamond Harbour. More daily trippers would visit Diamond Harbour than guests who would stay there several days or more. Up to 10 applications for building permits were received at each meeting of the council. About 25 per cent, of these buildings would be permanently occupied, he estimated.

woven mattresses in the staff quarters laced up with wire from beer cases.” The “restricted” service attributed to restrictions imposed by the award was a favourite theme song of people who liked to air their knowledge of overseas hotel services. It was also a good excuse for hotelkeepers who concentrated on the more profitable liquor side of their business and neglected their obligations under the Licensing Act of providing the public with meals and accommodation. Pound for pound guests in New Zealand hotels got more for their money than travellers in almost any part of the world. The cross-examination of Mr Young will be held this morning.

found in each hotel in this check—one of three—is given in column three.

An application for a club i charter for the Lyttelton Waterside Workers’ Social Club, which was to have been heard by the Licensing Control Commission during its Christchurch sitting will not be proceeded with in the meantime. Mr T. A. Gresson, appearing for the club before the Commission yesterday said that because of the "present uncertain position” on the waterfront he would seek an adjournment sine die. This request was granted.

Bed p.c. occuBar capacity, pied. 'check Foresters .. 17 5 . 113 Gladstone .. 16 32 185 Carlton .. 16 54 260 Caledonian 6 11 239 Lancaster Park 8 25 114 Heathcote Arms 8 25 98 Bower .. 3 nil 188 Belfast .. 1 16 106