Processing Your Application

Once your application has been received by Council it is tasked to the alcohol administrator, who will vet your application to make sure all required information and documents have been provided. If your application is missing anything the alcohol administrator will be in contact with a request for further information (RFI).

Please note: The Environmental Health Officer may also be in contact if there is further information required anytime during the processing of your application.

Once all required information has been received, your application will be lodged into our system. This will give it an application number and start the processing clocks.

After your application has been lodged an invoice and acknowledgment letter will be generated (For On,Off and Club Licences only a public notice will also be generated) and sent to you via email. If payment has already been made the alcohol administrator will allocate your payment to the invoice, but if you have not paid it will be requested that you use the invoice to pay as soon as possible.

There is a period of 25 working days for your application to be publicly notified (On, Off and Club Licences only) and 15 working days for agencies to review and report on your application and any additional information. The public notice will be uploaded to our website Alcohol Public Notices page and must be displayed at the principal entrance of your premises where it can easily be seen by the public.

Agency referrals go to:

• New Zealand Police 
• Waikato District Health Board 

Your application will also be sent to an Environmental Health Officer (sometimes referred to as Licensing Inspectors) it is their responsibility to write a report to determine the suitability of the applicant to sell and supply alcohol. In their report they will write a recommendation to DLC to help them make a decision.

For On, Off and Club Licenses allow six weeks processing time, if you have provided all the required documentation and there are no objections from the public or opposition to your application. 

If there are public objection or opposition from agencies or the Environmental Health Officer the processing of the application may take longer. 

Once your managers certificate application (for new certificates only) has been lodged, an Environmental Health Officer will be in touch to arrange an interview to asses your suitability to hold a managers certificate and knowledge around the sale and supply of alcohol.