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A popular Dunedin Irish pub’s alcohol licence is up in the air after two of its three fire escapes were found locked or pad-bolted shut.

The Dunedin District Licensing Committee convened on Tuesday to hear an application from Fire and Emergency New Zealand seeking the suspension of the on-licence held by The Bog Irish Bar.

The application, made under section 286 of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, follows inspections by Fire and Emergency and New Zealand Police that found multiple fire safety failings at the George St bar.

On April 29, Fire and Emergency community risk manager James Nat discovered two of the three designated exit doors were locked and pad-bolted during a routine inspection.

Additionally, duty managers at the time were reportedly unaware of the building’s approved fire evacuation scheme.

Nat told the committee the inspection was prompted by a request from a member of the public.

He said a duty manager explained a fire escape was locked because of issues with underage people entering the premises through it, though the escape was unlocked after Nat informed him this was not a sufficient excuse.

He said when he returned at a later date, the escape was again locked.

The Bog, a popular Dunedin haunt, has had it's licence suitability called into question after two of its three fire exits were found to be padlocked. Photo / Ben Tomsett

Despite Fire and Emergency notifying the licensee, Gurbani Club, of the breaches and copying in police, a subsequent police visit on May 2 found the same issues persisted.

Police noted one of the escapes was not accessible because of obstruction by musical equipment, which Nat understood to be a regular occurrence.

On a final visit by Fire and Emergency alongside police, Nat said concerns with patron behaviour, occupancy and employee crowd control ability were observed, but the fire escapes were now compliant despite the remaining issue of obstruction.

He said during all of his inspections, employees were always co-operative and made no attempt to deceive or obstruct him.

Gurbani Club’s shareholders and directors are Jasleen Saluja and Karandeep Singh, who attended the hearing with employee Panjawan Dev.

Fire and Emergency contended that the locked exits posed a serious risk to patrons’ safety in the event of a fire.

Committee chairman Colin Weatherall, who presided over the hearing, said he was “unforgiving” where issues of health and safety came into consideration.

Te Whatu Ora health promotion officer Aaron Whipp said he was concerned about the degree of staff training, as well as the potential for underage people entering the premises and the pad-bolting of an escape to prevent this.

Singh began the response on behalf of Gurbani Club by offering the “deepest apologies” for the issues raised.

“Although we conducted the fire evacuation training... This incident has made it clear that our protocols were not properly enforced.

“We are truly sorry.”

He said that in nine years of hospitality ownership, this was the first compliance failure related to Gurbani Club.

He told the committee that the manager who was on duty at the time of inspection has been “temporarily relieved” for three months as a direct consequence, and that they will be retrained in fire safety.

The employee would still be undertaking duties in a reduced capacity during this period, Singh said.

He said the owners will oversee safety procedures during a staff retraining period, as well as implementing further upgrades.

Singh told the committee that many of the issues observed by inspectors were unchanged from when the group took ownership of the premises in August 2024.

“This has been a profound wake-up call and we assure you that nothing like this will happen again.”

He said they had also employed more security guards since the inspections.

He “humbly requested” the committee to consider that suspending its licence would harm the directors’ livelihoods, as well as that of their eight employees.

After the group’s response, Nat said he believed a full suspension was no longer necessary should the group implement said changes, which Whipp agreed with.

Section 286 of the act allows for licence suspension where a licensee fails to meet public health or fire precaution requirements.

If the committee finds the licensee has not complied, it may either order the licensee to correct the issue within a specified time, or suspend the licence until compliance is achieved.

The committee has reserved its decision.

Ben Tomsett is a Multimedia Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.