Supermarket giants and hospitality heavyweights are fighting a joint effort by two councils to restrict the sale of alcohol in north and central Taranaki.

Four appeals have been lodged with the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority (ARLA) against the New Plymouth and Stratford district councils' joint local alcohol policy or LAP.

New Plymouth District Council's manager of customer and regulatory services Mary-Anne Priest said the companies which had lodged appeals were Foodstuffs North Island, Progressive Enterprises, Hospitality NZ and The Mill Retail Holdings Limited/Independent Liquor Limited.

The joint policy developed by the New Plymouth and Stratford councils was signed off in September last year. One of the major changes relates to a tightening up in trading hours.

While bottlestores and supermarkets can sell booze from 7am-11pm at the moment, the new policy would limit this period to 10am-9pm in New Plymouth and 7am-10pm in Stratford. Rules around location and proximity to sensitive sites, like schools, would also come into force.

Hospitality New Zealand's Chris Hince said the appeal of New Plymouth and Stratford's new booze rules was one of many the group had lodged.

"We have taken a nationwide look at it and we are appealing a number of LAPs across the country," he said.

He said a "general" appeal had been filed in connection with New Plymouth and Stratford's policy as he believed it included detail which effectively allowed councils to dictate how private companies did business.

But he said Hospitality NZ still remained committed to trying to resolve LAP issues before a hearing was required.

"Ultimately going to appeal costs everyone a lot of money," he said.

A Countdown spokesperson said it also wanted to avoid the time and cost involved in an appeal wherever possible.

"We are currently settling several appeals with councils and support the vast majority of the content of councils' policies."

Foodstuffs New Zealand spokeswoman Antoinette Laird✓ confirmed it had petitioned against the policy but would not comment further.

Regarding New Plymouth and Stratford's policy position, Priest said legal advice had been sought and a report regarding its options will be tabled at a July policy committee meeting. She said it was too early to say how much the appeal process might cost.

However, she was not surprised the provisional policy had been contested, as it was a phenomenon happening throughout the country.

"I don't think any alcohol policies have gone completely smoothly."

She said many councils were keeping a close eye on ARLA appeal outcomes in order to get a sense of how the law is being interpreted and how alcohol policies can be adapted accordingly.

An alcohol authority spokesman said no specific details about the appeals related to New Plymouth and Stratford policy could be released.

He said five appeals against alcohol policies would be dealt with in the coming weeks by the authority and a further nine were awaiting hearing dates.

At this stage it was unknown when the appeal related to the New Plymouth and Stratford's policy would be heard.