The City of Sydney is planning to create another 19 alcohol-free zones in Surry Hills and Redfern, despite criticism the zones simply force people with drinking problems into places where help from social service agencies is not available.

NSW Police have asked the council to create 17 new zones in Surry Hills with a further two in Eveleigh Street, Redfern, home to a large Aboriginal population, bringing to 166 the number of zones in the city, many of them in residential streets.

The zones do ‘‘little to solve problems’’. Credit:Darren Pateman

Drinking alcohol on the streets is legal in NSW except in the zones where police have power to confiscate and dispose of alcohol without first warning those in possession of alcohol.

The chief executive of Redfern Legal Centre, Joanna Shulman, said it would object to the proposed new zones, which she said did little to solve problems with alcohol and simply hid them from public view.