Stay Safe This Festive Season: Plan Ahead with Hastings Liquor Accord.
The festive season is here, bringing with it celebrations, social gatherings, and time spent with family and friends. It’s also a time to relax, enjoy good company, and indulge in the vibrant nightlife that our local venues offer. At the Hastings Liquor Accord, we encourage everyone to make the most of this season responsibly and safely.
Our message is simple: Leave your car at home as you enjoy our licensed premises this festive season. We’re reminding our community of the importance of planning ahead to get home safely after a night out. Whether you’re meeting friends at a pub, dining at a local restaurant, or attending an end-of-year work party, the key to a safe and enjoyable celebration is having a “Plan B.”
Why You Need a Plan B
During the holidays, increased social gatherings can lead to a higher likelihood of impaired driving incidents. A good Plan B ensures that you can enjoy the festivities without the worry of how to get home safely. It might be booking a taxi, nominating a designated driver, or taking the advantage of venue courtesy buses. Whatever your Plan B looks like, make sure it’s in place before you head out.
The Importance of Responsible Drinking
The Hastings Liquor Accord is committed to promoting responsible drinking and reducing the harm associated with alcohol misuse. Our licensed premises are proud to offer a welcoming environment where patrons can enjoy themselves responsibly.
This season, many venues are hosting special events, live music, and festive menus. To fully enjoy these experiences, it’s vital to pace yourself, drink water between alcoholic beverages, and know your limits. Remember, celebrating responsibly not only keeps you safe but also ensures a more enjoyable experience for everyone around you.
How Local Venues Support Safe Celebrations
Our local licensed venues play a key role in promoting safety during the festive season. From providing safe transport information to offering non-alcoholic beverage options and encouraging patrons to plan ahead, these venues are actively supporting the message: don’t drink and drive.
Some venues have courtesy busses so next time you visit one of our licensed premises, don’t hesitate to ask staff for advice on transport options if you haven’t already arranged a Plan B.
A Community Commitment
The Hastings Liquor Accord is a partnership between local businesses, NSW Police, government agencies, and community organizations. Our shared goal is to create a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone. This festive season, we’re asking all community members to join us in prioritizing safety.
By choosing to leave your car at home and planning your journey responsibly, you’re contributing to a safer, more enjoyable festive period for everyone in our community.
Make This Festive Season Memorable for the Right Reasons
As the holidays approach, remember that celebrations should be a time of joy, not regret. A little forethought goes a long way in ensuring everyone gets home safely and avoids the devastating consequences of drink driving.
So, what’s your Plan B? Whether it’s catching a cab, arranging a designated driver, or staying overnight, make sure you have a solid plan in place. Together, we can make this festive season one to remember—for all the right reasons.
From all of us at the Hastings Liquor Accord, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season!
The Mid North Coast Police District Licensing Police would like to extend an invitation to yourself and any other staff to a Liquor Accord supported – Bottle Shop Retail Theft Information Session.
Time: 10.30am
Date: Thursday 7th March, 2024
Location: Wauchope Country Club, King Street Wauchope
The session will cover Retail theft trends, prevention strategies, police response and an ongoing collaborative approach between the industry and police to minimise these occurrences.
‘Ask for Angela’ could soon be available at more than 100 licenced venues across the Port Macquarie region thanks to a collaboration between the Hastings Liquor Accord Australian Hotels Association and Mid North Coast Police District.
Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams said the internationally recognised initiative, encouraged patrons to ask for help if they were getting unwanted attention or felt their safety is at risk.
“It’s a modern approach to a modern issue. By asking for Angela, a patron can subtly alert staff who can intervene by calling police, organising safe transport home or referring the patron to support services,” Mrs Williams said.
“Having the ‘Ask for Angela’ posters and other advertising displayed prominently throughout a venue can help to deter unwanted behaviour and increase awareness that venue staff are available to help when needed.”
Chairperson of the Port Macquarie Liquor Accord Alistair Flower said it was great timing for the initiative to launch in the area.
“Given the increasing popularity of online dating apps, many people are meeting for dates at bars, clubs and pubs having never met, beyond the screens of their phone or computer,” Mr Flower said.
“We don’t want people feeling intimidated when they’re on a first date. ‘Ask for Angela’ is a great example of the valuable work the licensees in the Port Macquarie Liquor Accord do to target alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour.”
AHA NSW Director of Liquor and Policing John Green said ‘Ask for Angela’ was a logical extension of what venues do best – looking after their patrons.
“Licensees and their staff are trained to identify patron behaviour – be that aggression, intoxication or annoying behaviour,” Mr Green said.
“This is not about venue staff replacing the role of police or putting themselves at risk, it is about reinforcing the need to be aware of patron behaviour and to provide options when a date or social encounter doesn’t go as planned.”
The initiative has already been launched in Albury, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Bathurst, Byron Bay, Manning, Goulburn, Yass, Southern Highlands and City of Sydney.
Media Contacts: Leslie Williams Office: Terry Sara 0409 834 648
Hastings Liquor Accord: Alistair Flower 0419 977 871
Licensed premises and the Manning-Hastings communities have been congratulated after figures from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) revealed a significant reduction in assaults.
Australian Hotels Association (AHA) NSW liquor and policing director John Green visited Taree on Tuesday, May 8 to announce that assaults have dropped by 53 per cent since 2009 across the Taree and Port Macquarie areas.
A NEW line of transport has been launched in Port Macquarie which promises to benefit the community with their Uber-like service.
Go Buggy was founded by Simon Robinson, who was a former Uber driver. He said he was looking forward to a strong marriage with Port Macquarie.
“At the moment we have three drivers, with more coming on board,” he said.
We will aim for around 15 drivers by Christmas. There is work in it and we are certainly looking for people.
“People receive the drivers name, registration plate and time of arrival. Every trip is tracked. It’s a very safe system and our drivers go through an intensive screening for the job.”
Coffs Harbour immediately embraced the service and Mr Robinson believes they will have the same success in Port Macquarie.
“We are now the preferred supplier in Coffs and found that local businesses have backed us, so much so that most pubs and clubs don’t use taxis anymore,” he said.
“We officially started four weeks ago, and are slowly rolling out.”
An exciting initiative the service offers is an ordering button, which will be located in licensed premises all over town.
The button allows the venue to book a Go Buggy for a patron, who will be able to track their driver.
“We’re just really looking forward to forming a good marriage with Port Macquarie particularly leading into, and after, the holiday period,” Mr Robinson said.
Go Buggy has been highly endorsed by the Hastings Liquor Accord, especially leading into the holiday period.
“In regional areas where we have venues a fair distance apart, some in remote locations, the more transport in our region the better,” president of the accord, Alistair Flower, said.
“We’ve worked very hard with licensed premises to get courtesy busses and things like that up and operating, and this will add to those services.
“We communicate and do a lot with Port Taxis, who have been great, but now an Uber-style service with 15 cars by Christmas is only (going to be) a great thing for our local area.
“It will allow people to enjoy our licensed premises without worrying about how they’re getting home later.”
A collaborative initiative of the mid north coast liquor accords:
Port Macquarie Liquor Accord
Macleay Valley Liquor Accord
Nambucca Valley Liquor
Hastings Liquor Accord
A series of FREE education for RSA Competency Card Holders is available.
Session 1 10.00am – 12.00pm Session 2 6.00pm – 8.00pm Location: South West Rocks Country Club
2 Sportsmans Way, South West Rocks RSVP:Timtam.2@bigpond.com
Stay Safe This Festive Season: Plan Ahead with Hastings Liquor Accord.
