Auckland Council Independent Commissioner Les Simmons has decided that the application br Preserve Piha Ltd (Piha Cafe) to serve alcohol at the cafe will not be notified. This means that he alone will make the decision, without hearing from members of the Piha community.

The Piha Cafe had sought to changes conditions of its consent to include serving alcohol, operating an ice cream cart, extending the building at the back, and changing the surface of the parking area. This seemed set to be notified, but that application was withdrawn and a revised and reduced one lodged.

The decision by Mr Simmons as to why he has chosen not to notify the appplication or even “limited notification” (neighbours and affected parties notified) is here

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The next step is that the Commissioner will decide whether to agree to the proposal and what conditions are put on it.

Following this, the Cafe will still have to seek a liquor licence before it is able to serve alcohol. This application would be processed by Auckland Council and it is expected it would be notified.

Protect Piha Heritage which opposed the Cafe to the Environment Court was disappointed at the non-notification. Spokesperson Kath Dewar said:

“We are extremely disappointed that there will be no notification of the Piha café’s resource consent application to serve alcohol. Given the controversy around the establishment of the café, we think the community should be given the opportunity to express its views  on the environmental effects of serving of alcohol at the cafe.

The Auckland Council officer’s report acknowledged that even amongst those who originally supported the Cafe application, it was on the basis no alcohol would be served. Currently, it is not possible to buy alcohol at Piha during the day. Alcohol consumption is incompatible with the inherent risks of a surf beach and the reality that the vast majority of cafe patrons are visitors who will get in their cars to drive back into the city on a difficult open speed road. All emergency services in Piha are run by volunteers, so any adverse outcomes of this consent will fall back on the community who have been denied a chance to have their say in an open hearing process.”