The annual debriefing on Wānaka’s New Year’s Eve waterfront event is about to begin, with the first meeting between police and the event organiser to take place next week.

Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) hosted the traditional family events at the Dinosaur Park from 2pm, followed by live music and DJs, then a fireworks display at midnight.

Wānaka police Senior Sergeant Chris Brooks told the Wānaka App he’s uncomfortable with having “50 police officers to manage a community event”.

Fifty-two officers were rostered between December 28 and January 2, an increase of 36 on normal numbers, he said, adding that they were all needed.

However QLDC deputy mayor Quentin Smith said he was comfortable with the number of police involved.

“I am comfortable that police supported the events with appropriate resources and presence, with their presence and interaction with the youth being particularly obvious,” he said.

“Red Frogs, St John, medical support, security staff and Lions providing food, all assist on the front line in seeing and intervening early on any potential issues.”

Red Frogs NZ director Ray Thomson told the Wānaka App there was less aggression on the streets this year than in previous years, and the stage at the Dinosaur Park (on Friday and Saturday) had been a focus for young people.

“Generally I thought it was a really really positive initiative by QLDC,” he said.

Ray said he was concerned by underage drinking, the lack of supervision for young people from out of town, and an increasing trend of underage drug use.

Assault complaints

Senior Sergeant Chris Brooks says police are still dealing with the aftermath of New Year’s Eve, including a number of assault complaints.

One involved a suspect presenting a knife several times, and police have identified the person.

There were no sexual assaults reported, which Chris said was an improvement from the previous couple of years.

He noted that police only deal with “the bad stuff”. 

“There was probably a whole lot of good stuff happening there too.”

Police will debrief the event next Monday (January 22) with event manager Craig Gallagher of Summit Events, the first of a number of meetings on the event.

“We’ll be discussing good, bad and everything in between,” Chris said.

Event continues to evolve

While the event remains “fairly confronting”, Quentin said, the council’s response to New Year’s continues to “successfully evolve over the years”.

“While the high numbers of young people is particularly confronting, we have a very good understanding now that not providing containment and entertainment increases the risk significantly. It is a fine balance between managing the influx of youth, versus supercharging it to become bigger and bigger which would be undesirable.

“We continued to be very concerned at the level of ‘preloading’ and adult enabled youth drinking particularly from visiting teens between 13-17 years old and reports of fighting between schools. The bylaw and alcohol free zone in the CBD was a particularly useful tool in this regard over the period. “

Quentin said the fireworks and entertainment, which included family events from 2pm to midnight, were “a hit”.

An interagency debrief would take place soon to start planning any modifications or changes for next year, he said.  

“Anecdotally it has been relatively successful this year without reports of serious incidents, but we continually look to improve and adjust the management of this issue.”

Wānaka Upper Clutha Community Board chair Simon Telfer said he agreed with Quentin but did not find the environment confronting.

“Local community feedback to me on the three evenings has been unanimously positive, especially the fireworks and clean up in the early hours of 1 January.

“I'm looking forward to the agency debrief so we can continue to fine tune our planning and resources for next year.”

PHOTO: Shannon Thomson/Red Frogs