Despite her promise to “ensure a safer environment for students” under the Sophia Charter, the President of the Otago Property Investors’ Association (OPIA) spoke out against an extension to Starters Bar’s hours in the ODT. She said that as she did not comment as OPIA, however, her opposition doesn’t count as going against the Charter.
The Sophia Charter specifically names Starters as a place that the University and OUSA should use to “support student social activity”. Starters is the OUSA-owned student pub. OUSA applied to the Dunedin District Licensing Committee to extend Starters’ licensing hours, so that they could sell alcohol until 3am, and their application was heard last Monday.
Kathryn Seque, the President of the Association, told the ODT that the extension to Starters’ hours would be “to the detriment of other students who are trying to live, sleep and study surrounding [the bar]”. On behalf of students who live near the bar, Kathryn Seque said it was “disheartening” that she was not consulted on Starters’ application to extend their licensing hours from 1am to 3am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.
“My comments in the ODT were my views as the property manager of both the neighbouring properties and this is in no way connected to my position within the OPIA,” Kathryn told Critic.
“OUSA is committed to working with all signatories of the Sophia Charter to implement positive and practicable strategies of reducing alcohol related harm,” said OUSA Events Manager Jason Schroeder. “Starters Bar is one of these strategies.”
The hourly extension was trialed over Re-O week with an “overwhelmingly positive and tangible impact upon the student quarter”. OPIA, along with the DCC and Dunedin Police, signed on to the Sophia Charter.
Jason said that “the ability [for Starters] to operate until 3am greatly increases our ability to provide a safe venue for students to socialise in.” He also noted that a 3am closing time would likely not be a regular occurrence, saying that they would like to “target specific events like Orientation & larger ticketed concerts, as well as have the flexibility to remain open when at capacity and avoid a mass exodus of 400 students at 1am.”
“As long as it’s keeping students safe, it’s for the best,” said Laura, a neighbour of Starters Bar. Laura lives so close to Starters that when the D&B is on, “it shakes our windows”. The noise is “just something you gotta live with,” she said. This is her second year in her current flat, and she said that she knew what she was signing up for. The proximity to Starters “hasn’t deterred people” from staying on in the neighborhood.
All students said basically the same thing. Madyson, Caera and Sophie all said that “it’s not the noise, it’s the people”. The most common concern was drunk people tipping over bins, which “probably wouldn’t change” if the bar was open later.
“I don’t really care about them staying open later. Honestly, my neighbours are worse than Starters,” said a student who didn’t want their neighbours to know how they felt about them.
Nobody Critic spoke with was upset about the proposed changes. “I don’t mind, really,” said three people. “Yeah. I don’t care,” said a fourth. “Drunk freshers knocking bins over” topped Caera’s list of concerns. “We can’t really hear the music.” Residents' concerns explicitly surrounded the mass exodus of drunks around 1am, which they expected to “not change” with a change in hours.
Laura, who lives the closest to the bar, had an alternative solution to the problem of drunk students in the area: increase the presence of Campus Watch. Unfazed by the noise, Laura was only concerned with drunks, which she’d expect to see more of if hours were extended. “I’d like to see more of Campus Watch, especially if they extend the hours.”