Ballarat council looks to crack down on liquor outlets
BALLARAT City Council needs to take a strong stand against alcohol-related harm in the community, according to councillors Des Hudson and Craig Fletcher.
The pair led the charge against a First Choice Liquor Superstore application for the Ballarat CBD, which was rejected six to two at Wednesday night’s council meeting.
Cr Hudson, who is also the chairman of Ballarat A Safe City Community Safety Committee, said the council had last year strongly advocated to the state government that it needed to control local liquor outlet locations as part of the Ballarat Liquor Accord.
“We need to look at the cumulative harm and the total density of supply,” Cr Hudson said.
“Ballarat is already very well serviced by liquor outlets.”
Cr Fletcher said there needed to be further understanding of the council’s position on alcohol outlets and what it means for Ballarat.
He said he wasn’t opposed to business opportunities for Ballarat but he had “broader package concerns”.
“The effect of the concentration (of the liquor outlets) cannot be overlooked.”
