Queues snaked around several blocks at liquor stores in west Auckland as thirsty Kiwis gear up for the second weekend in lockdown.
One West Auckland man, who tried to buy alcohol from West Liquor in both Glen Eden and Kelston, said a lot of people in the queues were not keeping a safe 2-metre distance. He told he didn't feel comfortable lining up. "There's no way that it's safe for everyone," he said. In both stores he tried to visit, he said the queue stretched around the block. Footage posted on Instagram shows hundreds of people queueing for West Liquor in Massey. "Line for alcohol all the way around the store! West Liquor Westgate, Auckland. Alert 4 Lockdown this weekend, or party time?," the caption reads. Another video shot this afternoon shows a queue spanning multiple blocks, with hundreds of people lining up to purchase alcohol from West Liquor on Railside Ave, in Henderson.
"I think the trust should be online sellers like the rest of the country," Amie, who lives in west Auckland. "This is making a mockery of the lockdown and what we are ultimately trying to achieve. People from all over are travelling to get top shelf from the Trusts." The Trusts were granted essential service status, meaning they can stay open through alert level 4. Trusts stores are operating on a one-in-one-out policy. On its website, it says only locals should travel to Trusts stores to purchase alcohol. "We are here to serve our West Auckland community – do not travel outside your local area to shop. We will report people who are travelling from outside West Auckland to shop with us to the Police," the Trusts website says. However, multiple west Aucklanders believe people from outside the area are travelling west for liquor. The decision to allow Trusts liquor stores to continue to operate during the lockdown in west Auckland has been highly contested by other local businesses which sell alcohol but have been forced to shut through this period. New Zealanders across the country can purchase alcohol online and have it delivered to their door.
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Illegal dumping. See it, report it.
Call us on 0800 NO DUMP (0800 663 867). Illegal dumpers can be fined up to $30,000.
Poll: Does the building consent process need to change?
We definitely need homes that are fit to live in but there are often frustrations when it comes to getting consent to modify your own home.
Do you think changes need made to the current process for building consent? Share your thoughts below.
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91.4% Yes
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8.1% No
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0.5% Other - I'll share below!
Old oil
Hi everyone hope everyone is well , I'm just wondering if anyone knows how I can discard some old oil from our car in which we over filled. Was in the car over a few weeks and now have in a bucket. But want to get rid of correctly. We are based in kelston