Nine off-licences were within half a kilometre of the clinic, the committee heard.
Wānaka resident Ben Tutty said as a father-of-two and frequent visitor to Plunket, he was appalled to learn about the application and compelled to submit an objection.
He believed the store risked normalising alcohol for young families.
“To me it feels like an instinctual – that’s just wrong … putting it next to a Plunket feels crazy. There’s a children’s playground out front of Plunket where children and babies and young families are all the time,” Tutty said.
Other objectors told the District Licensing Committee they believed the store posed a risk to recovering Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members, who met twice a week at the site.
Expert witness Paul Watson, clinical lead for Whānau Āwhina Plunket, presented evidence heavy or problem drinkers were particularly responsive to alcohol advertising, imagery and physical proximity.
The committee said the premises previously operated as a Woolworths Metro with an off-licence, without any history of community objections or evidence it degraded the amenity for Plunket users.
No expert medical evidence was presented to show a nearby bottle store could trigger a relapse for AA members or maintain alcohol dependence, it said.
The licensing inspector also noted AA had chosen not to comment on or object to the application, despite being contacted about it, and had continued to hold its meetings at the site despite a steady increase in nearby on-licences and off-licences.
Liz Gordon, a lawyer for some of the objectors at the hearing, said she felt that was not a fair counter-argument.
AA publicly states it has no opinion on outside issues and refuses to be drawn into public controversy, she said.
“I felt that was a really unfortunate comment by the committee, because everybody knows AA isn’t going to say anything. So other people took the opportunity to speak for AA at that hearing in terms of the concerns about alcohol harm in the area,” she said.
Tutty said he felt the increasing number of alcohol outlets in the area was a problem.
“In the hearing I cited a bunch of studies that said when there’s more density of alcohol outlets, alcohol-related harm increases,” he said.
Neither New Zealand Police nor the Alcohol Licensing Inspector opposed the application.
Police data submitted as part of the hearing showed a 40% decrease in alcohol-harm related incidents within 1km of the site over the previous three years.
The Gate Limited told the committee the store would be a modern bottle store with clear sightlines, low shelving, CCTV coverage, monitored point-of-sale areas and a layout that supported supervision and compliance.
It would be locally owned and operated by a team with more than 35 years’ hospitality experience and deep regional connections, it said.
Tutty said opponents were hoping to appeal the decision.
The Gate Limited has been contacted for comment.