Whyalla City Council, Media Release, 20 May 2025
The community has spoken and Whyalla City Council has listened – last night endorsing the introduction of a city-wide dry zone, following majority public support for the idea.
Council received almost 2,500 responses to its survey over a six-week period, asking residents if they wanted to retain the existing dry zone, or move to a city-wide dry zone.
Nearly two out of three respondents (64.7 per cent) chose the city-wide option.
Mayor Phill Stone said the response to the survey was the biggest council had seen in the past five years, enabling council to make a unanimous decision.
“The decision was not made lightly, as we’re aware this will be a significant change for the community,” Mayor Stone said.
“However, after reading every comment for and against and gaining an understanding of community sentiment, we were able to make a measured decision that represented the views presented by residents.”
Mayor Stone said council made a concerted effort to promote the survey in every possible way – from face-to-face engagements, physical copies, QR codes and newspaper ads; to boosted social posts, hourly radio mentions and app notifications – with the aim of reaching the majority of the community.
“By using a variety of local platforms – including one of our social media posts reaching more than 14,000 people, predominantly in Whyalla – we’re confident that most residents were aware of how they could contribute to this important discussion,” he said.
The survey was in response to mounting community concerns regarding increasing alcohol-related anti-social behaviour. Mayor Stone said while council could not solve these issues on its own, it was doing its part to address the problem.
“The one thing within our control is to determine the area of the city that is covered by a dry zone, which is why we are taking action on a city-wide dry zone following community support for the initiative,” he said.
“There is no silver bullet to resolving alcohol-related anti-social behaviour, and a dry zone will not solve the problem on its own – it will take far more than this to solve the ongoing issues.
“It will take a focused, multi-agency response to tackle the cause of the ongoing issues to achieve real improvements. This will need to include addressing housing issues; increased police resources; helping those who are at-risk to access support; and a host of other measures.
“We are committed to this process and will continue to work with various community groups and service agencies to see further improvements implemented.”
Council will now apply to the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner to have the city-wide dry zone implemented. There will be a period of at least a few months between the application being lodged and the dry zone being implemented. Council will continue to update the community on the progress of this process.
We strongly encourage residents to read the full report tabled at this month’s Ordinary Council Meeting, outlining responses, promotion, comments and various statistical data; as well as the reasoning for engaging regarding a city-wide dry zone versus a partial extension.
