Row over booze ban after ‘incident’ at Xmas Day retirement village BBQ

Monday, 1 September 2025

A ban on alcohol at a retirement village after an incident at a Christmas Day barbecue led to accusations of residents flouting booze policies, bullying, warnings of “financial implications” over behaviour and allegations of elder abuse.

The row between a small number of people living at Condell Retirement Village in Bryndwr, Christchurch and its management went all the way to the Retirement Commission, a Crown entity, amid allegations of bad behaviour by one party and being given “childlike treatment” by the other.

It stemmed from a gathering in the village’s retirement area on Christmas Day, 2023.

Shortly after, the village’s relationship manager Alison McCormick sent a letter to residents saying that all common areas would be alcohol-free as a result of an incident at the gathering.

After denials from some residents that they had been drinking alcohol, the village’s director, Paul McCormick, sent another letter saying residents had violated the village’s zero-alcohol policy, and that they had displayed a “boastful attitude” while doing so.

“It is crucial to understand that there are actions available to the directors in handling such violations which may have financial implications for you.

“We kindly request your co-operation in avoiding a situation where we are compelled to act against a resident who blatantly ignores the policy,” the letter said.

“Furthermore, we urge those involved to cease any form of bullying directed at residents who have complied with the village policy and are accepting our decision.”

The residents involved refuted the allegations, saying no alcohol had been drunk on Christmas Day, and there was no boasting or bullying.

Some residents said the threat of financial implications was a form of “elder-abuse,” and said the letter showed “childlike treatment of residents”. They said it had affected their quality of life.

The residents asked for a full apology from the director, to which Paul McCormick said his wording could have been “a little softer”.

Five of the residents at the village took the issue to the Retirement Commission.

But a dispute panel ruled in favour of the village operators.

The issues concerned were whether the village had breached the occupation rights agreement (ORA) of the applicants, and the obligations owed in the Code of Residents Rights, by banning alcohol from all communal areas in the village.

It also decided whether communications to all the residents in the village exposed the applicants to subsequent ill-treatment and distrust, and whether the village had failed to apologise.

Dispute panellist David Carden said the panel did not have a definitive answer as to what happened at the barbecue area or whether alcohol was drunk.

But the panel accepted that there was no right for the applicants to have alcohol at the village under their ORAs.

Carden said the panel found there was nothing objectionable in the wording of the letters sent to residents, and there was nothing that did not treat the applicants with courtesy.

He said the whole event had been “unsatisfactory for all,” and it was regrettable that it had taken 14 months to resolve.

“The personality issues between residents and with management is something that should be able to be contained by better communication,” he said.