Police hoping for tame New Year's Eve

Police are hoping a quiet word in the ear of young revellers before the drinking starts tonight may be enough to take the heat off some of the traditional New Year's Eve trouble spots.

Liquor bans, particularly in some of the high-profile holiday spots around the North Island such as Mt Maunganui, Waihi Beach, Taupo and other coastal areas popular with young holidaymakers, have already had an effect, with police reporting that most people understand the law.

At Mt Maunganui, where young drinkers had caused problems in the past, the temporary cells dubbed "Alcatraz" after the prison island in San Francisco in the United States had been erected and police said they were likely to be well used tonight.

Alcatraz could hold about 200 but was known as a pleasant place to spend the night, particularly as many of the occupants were drunk - meaning a lot of urinating or vomiting.

However, police also said they were hoping that by quietly telling people of the liquor bans before the New Year's Eve festivities began, they would follow the rules and not take alcohol into public areas where they could be arrested.

One Bay of Plenty police spokesman said an "element of conditioning", where police advised people to behave sensibly, had largely worked and it was hoped that would continue tonight. However, that could change with a few young drunks who failed to follow the rules.

"It's the usual story - have fun by all means but obey the rules and everyone will have a good time," said the police spokesman.

At Waihi Beach, locals said there did not appear to be as many people at the popular beachside holiday resort, although the camping ground was full.

"We don't seem to have the young, hooney, boyracer types around at the moment, although they may come," said one Waihi Beach holidaymaker whose bach overlooks the beach.

There did not appear to be the same sense of expectation and nervousness that things might get unpleasant and that could be because of the liquor ban, which prevented people from congregating and drinking in many public places, he said.

Police said the liquor bans were working.

"We have got staff working (during the day) to make sure it is not zero tolerance but very low tolerance of disorderly and liquor ban offending and it has definitely helped out," Senior Sergeant Craig Madden, of Mt Maunganui police, said.

Many people had also saved fireworks from Guy Fawkes night in November to see in the New Year.

In the South Island, rumours were circulating that Queenstown was the place to be for young revellers.

"A lot of these young guys would decide within the two or three days leading up to New Year's (Eve) where they're going to go," acting sergeant Blair Duffy, of Queenstown police, said.

"This year, from what we've heard, Queenstown might be on the agenda, but it's difficult to gauge until the night itself."

Police were expecting mostly minor offences rather than all-out bedlam, he said.

"It's generally just lower-end disorder, fighting and the odd serious assault."

A large number of policing staff had been brought in from Dunedin and Invercargill to assist, although holidaymakers had so far shown "a very friendly demeanour" despite large numbers of revellers and congested roads.

"Queenstown does tend to get more of a mature crowd. It's certainly more family orientated in the (centre) and around the Queenstown Wharf area, which tends to police itself to a large degree and probably puts a lot of the younger crowd off coming to Queenstown."

The build-up to New Year's Eve had so far been fairly quiet, Mr Duffy said.

Police last night arrested two youths for breaching the liquor ban, and another man for breaching the peace.

"They were certainly lower-end offenses, so nothing of real concern to the police."

Maitai's party central under control

Nearly 2000 young people gathered at the Maitai Motor Camp for New Year's Eve are under strict control and police hope there will be enough safety nets to keep everyone out of trouble.

Senior Sergeant John Maxwell, of Nelson, said a strong police presence was in place for the big night, as well as ambulances and extra security.

Police were hoping for "a very uneventful evening", he said. One of the things that concerned police the most was young people drinking and driving.

"Hopefully there's enough here to keep them in one place where they can stay safe," he said.

"The problem is the young people mixing with the older members of the public and the families in town and this goes some way towards preventing that."

A police and fire service demonstration at the Nelson City Council-owned camp yesterday saw the emergency services putting on a sausage sizzle and demonstrating the use of breath testers, road spikes and emergency equipment.

The armed offenders squad weapons were a particular hit with the youth.

Handling the police rifles was Christchurch 21-year-old Lisa Olorenshaw. She was enjoying her second New Year's Eve at the camp and 19-year-old Eldon Davies his first.

"Everything's geared towards us," said Miss Olorenshaw. "It's cool that they have the music and everyone seems to chill out, talk to everyone else and get rowdy."

"It's good because there aren't really the families around that get annoyed," Mr Davies said.

Christchurch's St Bede's College student Sean Casey, 18, was also back for his second year. "The weather is beautiful, the girls are gorgeous, it's the best school experience you can have." His friend Hagen Schulte, 18, summed it up in fewer words: "Bloody epic".

Although drunk young people were stumbling around at midday yesterday, camp co-manager Carol Wood said the atmosphere had been positive so far.

Carloads of young people from as far away as Invercargill and Auckland had been steadily streaming in. She was expecting about 1800 young people, most of them aged between 16 and 23. "The kids' behaviour has been pretty good," she said.

"We've got as much here as we can to make it as safe as possible for them. There's never any guarantees but my staff are here to look out for them."

Camp security guard Francey Kara said the camp took a lot of the pressure off police and safety services in town. Apart from "a couple of wee little incidents" so far most of the campers had been "quite mellow" over the past four days. "You just don't know until the big finale, though," he said.

Nelson Hospital's Emergency Department clinical director Tom Morton said ED would be a lot busier if it wasn't for the effort put in at the Maitai.

"If it wasn't for the excellent job they do we'd see a lot more people over the New Year period," he said. "We've been very impressed."

By NZPA and NAOMI ARNOLD, Nelson Mail

- NZPA