A surge in alcohol-fuelled violence could follow the opening of two new discount liquor barns just metres apart in North Wollongong, a University of Wollongong health researcher has warned.
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Coles' First Choice Liquor store opened three weeks ago on Flinders Street, one door down from the site approved for a $7 million project that will include Woolworths' bargain liquor equivalent, Dan Murphy's.
Wollongong City Council granted development consent for Dan Murphy's with conditions in February 2012, and yesterday Woolworths confirmed it planned to go ahead.
The two liquor barn sites are directly across the road from North Wollongong Hotel, which has its own bottle shop, and close to at least nine other takeaway alcohol outlets in the CBD (see map on page 2).
For UOW Centre for Health Initiatives manager Lance Barrie, the city's increasing bottle shop density raises numerous public health concerns.
Mr Barrie has researched alcohol-related violence in Wollongong's CBD and said there was "a very, very clear relationship" between bottle shop density and alcohol-fuelled violence.
"There are clear links between a higher number of [alcohol] outlets and a higher rate of binge drinking, alcohol consumption and alcohol-related violence," he said.
Mr Barrie pointed to a 2011 study by VicHealth and the University of Melbourne that found residents with eight or more alcohol outlets within one kilometre of their homes were twice as likely to binge drink.
Mr Barrie said this could be a particular worry for Wollongong.
‘‘Historically, there have been higher rates of alcohol-related aggression in Wollongong compared to other cities in NSW and adding more bottle shops to the region doesn’t help that cause in any way,’’ he said.
Mr Barrie also said pricing competition between the new stores could affect the many university students who lived nearby, because low-cost alcohol could make ‘‘pre-loading’’ – where alcoholic drinks are consumed before going out to a bar or pub – more attractive.
‘‘I would say Coles and Woolworths have thought very strategically about the placement of these bottle shops, in terms of where people are likely to be drinking alcohol and also living,’’ he said.
‘‘Given the close proximity to [UOW] campus residences, it’s likely that there would be an increase in pre-loading – which again is related to higher rates of alcohol-related violence.
‘‘Price is an important factor in young people’s decision making when it comes to alcohol consumption, so when prices are lower people are going to be purchasing and consuming a lot more.’’
A Wollongong council spokesman yesterday said the ‘‘broad social impacts’’ of having the Dan Murphy’s and First Choice Liquor stores in close proximity had been considered when giving development consent.
‘‘These considerations were taken into account when considering the application for Dan Murphy’s,’’ the spokesman said.
‘‘The development application for the First Choice outlet was approved by the [NSW] Land and Environment Court following an appeal against the council’s determination.’’
He said there were no specific planning controls regulating the number or concentration of liquor shops within the Wollongong local government area but that the NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing was responsible for granting all liquor trading licences.
Woolworths spokesman Luke Schepen said the company was looking forward to opening its new Dan Murphy’s store.