The city council is pushing ahead with a controversial policy to restrict the hours alcohol can be sold in Christchurch.

Councillors have voted unanimously to publicly notify the provisional Local Alcohol Policy (LAP), which restricts off-licence hours to 9am-9pm and shut most bars down at 1am. Only bars and nightclubs in a small central city zone will be allowed to stay open beyond that time but they will have to implement a one-way door policy after 1am.

Hospitality New Zealand (HNZ) has signalled it will appeal the provisions of the LAP to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority, saying if the policy went through unchanged it would lead to business closures and job losses.

HNZ president Peter Morrison said they were most opposed to the 1am closing and the mandatory 1am one-way door policy.

The provisional LAP was approved by the previous council in 2013. It recommended the incoming council publicly notify it under the provisions of the Sale and Supply of Liquor Act 2012. Mayor Lianne Dalziel has been holding off taking that step because she wanted to see the outcome of the first round of appeals on other local authorities LAPs.

Dalziel said on Thursday she was now happy to proceed with notifying the LAP and believed it was time to provide some certainty on the issue.

Urging councillors to proceed with the LAP, Cr Phil Clearwater said he had received a letter from Christchurch Hospital medical staff that suggested the cost of alcohol-related harm in Christchurch was $90 million a year. As a former health worker, he had spent a lot of time "putting band aids" over the problems caused by alcohol but with the LAP the council had a chance to address the root problem, which was the culture of heavy drinking and binge drinking.

"This will help change the culture," Clearwater said.

Cr Ali Jones said she was not convinced alcohol-related harm would be reduced significantly enough to warrant something as wide-ranging and far-reaching as the provisional LAP.

One of the biggest health issues in the country was obesity yet the council allowed fast-food outlets to operate in the city 24 hours a day, seven days a week, she said.

"Are we going to start limiting fast food outlets as well?"

Cr Glenn Livingstone said the trading hours provided for in the LAP were reasonable and there was "more than plenty time" for people to access alcohol.

Cr Andrew Turner said he had some small reservations about the LAP, particularly as it related to Lyttelton. The future economic development of the port town was likely to revolve around entertainment and hospitality and he was not convinced imposing a 1am closure on the area's bars was appropriate.

"There is a view among some in Lyttelton that 3am closing would be more appropriate," he said.

Dalziel said it was possible that some of the provisions of the LAP could be altered as a result of talks between the council and affected parties during the appeal process.

Police have welcomed the council's decision to push ahead with the LAP.

"Police view the policy as potentially the single biggest crime prevention tool of this generation. Once in force this policy will help to maintain and improve the high levels of safety the city enjoys. This policy will reduce alcohol related harm and result in fewer victims of crime including serious assaults and serious injury and death on our roads," said Canterbury Police prevention manager, Inspector Richard Bruce.

What happens next:

- The council must publicly notify and on its website stating it wishes to adopt the provisional LAP.

- The police, the medical officer of health, and anyone who submitted on the draft LAP can lodge an appeal against any element of the provisional LAP.

- Those appeals will be heard and considered, in public, by the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA). The burden of proof is on the appellant to show that the element of the policy they are appealing against is unreasonable.

- The ARLA's decisions are final and appellants have no further right of appeal.

- Once all appeals are resolved, the council can bring the LAP into force. Because Christchurch's LAP contains maximum hours and one-way door provisions, the council will need to give a minimum of three months' notice of its intention to do that.