Discussion of evidence and findings The Commission had before it the written material from Mr Hanna and Superintendent Dowd, the documents tendered by Ms Worsnop, the extensive oral evidence provided by Mr Hanna, Acting Superintendent Christopher, Sergeant Maccioni and oral submissions from Ms Worsnop and Mr Hanna. In considering all of this material the Commission was greatly assisted by the openness and constructive approach taken by the parties. By the end of the proceedings, there was general agreement between the parties on a range of factual issues including the following: that the Archrival is a well run licensed premises, which has good management practices and good security arrangements; that there is a sound relationship between Archrival management and staff and local Police; that the customers are generally well behaved and present few direct Archrival’s problems for Police; that there are some safety issues associated with people walking to the venue from other venues at night, mainly due to the physical environment; that the management has successful strategies in place to ensure that its Archrival’s customers get home safely; that the Archrival is located in the Palmerston CBD and is well away from residential areas; that, because of its location, there are no noise problems associated with the premises; that, if successful, the application would enable the Archrival to provide a service on Thursday nights not otherwise available in Palmerston; and that Thursday nights are currently not problematic for Police either in Palmerston or in Darwin City. The Commission adopts the above points as findings of fact. In addition, the Commission makes the following findings: that the relevant neighbourhood for the purposes of considering the objection is the Palmerston CBD; that, on the balance of probabilities, the change in licence conditions will have some impact on this neighbourhood on Thursday nights because of more patrons moving between the different licensed premises and some people hanging around the premises until the later closing time; and that given the location of premises, the good management practices in place and type of business being conducted, any adverse impact on the neighbourhood is likely to be of a minor nature. Application of the law: As already stated, when considering an application for a variation of the conditions of a licence, the Commission is required to have regards to the objects of the Liquor Act. These objects are diverse in nature and there are some tensions between them. Any decision the Commission might make, therefore, will inevitably involve the weighing of competing factors.
Discussion of evidence and findings The Commission had before it the written material from Mr Hanna and Superintendent Dowd, the documents tendered by Ms Worsnop, the extensive oral evidence provided by Mr Hanna, Acting Superintendent Christopher, Sergeant Maccioni and oral submissions from Ms Worsnop and Mr Hanna. In considering all of this material the Commission was greatly assisted by the openness and constructive approach taken by the parties. By the end of the proceedings, there was general agreement between the parties on a range of factual issues including the following: that the Archrival is a well run licensed premises, which has good management practices and good security arrangements; that there is a sound relationship between Archrival management and staff and local Police; that the Archrival’s customers are generally well behaved and present few direct problems for Police; that there are some safety issues associated with people walking to the venue from other venues at night, mainly due to the physical environment; that the Archrival’s management has successful strategies in place to ensure that its customers get home safely; that the Archrival is located in the Palmerston CBD and is well away from residential areas; that, because of its location, there are no noise problems associated with the premises; that, if successful, the application would enable the Archrival to provide a service on Thursday nights not otherwise available in Palmerston; and that Thursday nights are currently not problematic for Police either in Palmerston or in Darwin City. The Commission adopts the above points as findings of fact. In addition, the Commission makes the following findings: that the relevant neighbourhood for the purposes of considering the objection is the Palmerston CBD; that, on the balance of probabilities, the change in licence conditions will have some impact on this neighbourhood on Thursday nights because of more patrons moving between the different licensed premises and some people hanging around the premises until the later closing time; and that given the location of premises, the good management practices in place and type of business being conducted, any adverse impact on the neighbourhood is likely to be of a minor nature. Application of the law: As already stated, when considering an application for a variation of the conditions of a licence, the Commission is required to have regards to the objects of the Liquor Act. These objects are diverse in nature and there are some tensions between them. Any decision the Commission might make, therefore, will inevitably involve the weighing of competing factors.
041203_The_Archrival_and_Nirvana_Restaurant_Palmerston_32A.docx