Revellers crowd Mount Maunganui's beachfront on New Year's Eve in 2015, the last year the city-sponsored event was held. Photo / NZME
Revellers crowd Mount Maunganui's beachfront on New Year's Eve in 2015, the last year the city-sponsored event was held. Photo / NZME
This Friday will mark the sixth year since Mount Maunganui made an abrupt transition from its wild reputation as New Year's Eve party central to a place where drunken antics, and large beach gatherings in general, were actively discouraged.
Had it not been for Covid-19's Delta comeback this year, 2021 might have been seen as a year of modest reputation rebuilding for the community's festive spirit.
For the second year in a row, Tauranga City Council was set to reintroduce fireworks to the popular waterfront area as well as a family-friendly fair at Blake Park - albeit without alcohol and an ending time of 9.30pm. It wouldn't be the party atmosphere of days gone by, but it also wouldn't be an active discouragement of residents having a good time.
Instead, however, those plans have been scuppered due to uncertainty caused by the pandemic.
Mount Maunganui's annual New Year's Eve beach party attracted thousands of young revellers each year prior to a 2016 crackdown. Photo / NZME
It's still possible crowds could flock to the beachfront, looking for an outdoor spot to unofficially congregate since popular alternatives like music festival Rhythm and Vines are also cancelled or postponed. But locals say they aren't counting on it.
Rob Veale of Mount Backpackers said he's farewelled about 10 guests - or about 20 per cent of the hostel's customers - over the past week as they've headed to the South Island to attend Rhythm and Vines sister event Rhythm and Alps, which is forging ahead as scheduled.
While many of those vacancies have filled for the next couple days, the new guests are unlikely to be people looking for a party, he said.
"We used to be really busy when the music festivals were on, but they're not happening so there's even more space," he said, pointing to the cancellation also of Bay Dreams Tauranga music festival, which had been set to kick off on January 3.
"The younger people still seem to drift off to the party towns," and Mount Maunganui is no longer considered one of them, he said.
For years, Veale has kept a close eye on the property and the surrounding area during New Year's Eve.
"Two years ago it was very quiet," he said. "There was just nothing going on. There were more police on the street than people."
Last year, he said, it was less glum - still not wild but more people out on the street seeming to have a good time, perhaps lured outside by the fireworks.
Carparks are coned off on Oceanbeach Road in Mount Maunganui on New Year's Eve 2018. Photo / NZME
Both of those years were by design, says Gareth Wallis, Tauranga City Council's general manager for community services.
A report to the city council in 2016 described Mount Maunganui's annual Main Beach celebration, which included a beachfront concert, as the city's riskiest event of the year. Serious crimes, including sexual assault, were on the rise, the report found.
"What we have found is people coming from all around the central North Island, getting pre-loaded and specifically coming to this event," then-Mayor Stuart Crosby told RNZ in 2016, describing the vote to cancel the event as both a public safety issue and a cost-saving measure for ratepayers.
The 2015 celebration, attended by an estimated 5000 young people, seemed to provide a breaking point after a social media page dedicated to exploits at the event garnered media attention.
On the page, young people appeared to boast about underage sex on the beach, allegations of sexual assault and rape, violent assaults and numerous fights, as well as nudity and photographs of drugs and drug-taking. There were also pro-Mongrel Mob posts, as well as misogynistic and racist comments.
Most of the posts were too explicit to publish, NZME reported at the time.
There were 43 arrests in the region that New Year's Eve through till 4am on January 1. The following year, after the concert was cancelled and police patrolled the area to discourage partying, law enforcement described the night as the "quietest New Year's in 10 years".
"Significantly reduced numbers of people visited the historic Mount Maunganui trouble hotspots and the observed attitudes and behaviours of revellers were dramatically improved compared to previous years," a council report stated.
The tight restrictions worked so well they stayed in place for years, but by 2020 the city felt it was time to try loosening up a bit.
"Last year was the first year where it felt like there had been enough of a gap ... for us to return and do something community- and family-focused with a reduced risk of drawing attention from troublemakers," Wallis explained.
Even with the events and fireworks cancelled this year, the city plans to pay a few extra security guards to help police and have some workers from waste management on shift.
"But it's all pretty low key and there to support police on New Year's Eve if people do turn up looking for something to do," he said.
Wallis emphasised that he doesn't have a crystal ball, but he said he hasn't gotten any indication that partygoers want to show up en masse to the beachfront this year.
Partygoers celebrate New Year's Eve at Mount Maunganui in 2012. Photo / NZME
"I don't know we have a lot of control over that," he acknowledged. "Young people will do what they want to do."
An alcohol ban remains on the beachfront, but parking spots won't be blocked off this year, he said.
Mt Maunganui police urged revellers to drink and behave responsibly again this year.
"Our staff are well-versed at policing over busy periods like New Year's Eve, and we deploy staff in expected areas of demand," said Western Bay of Plenty Area Commander Inspector Clifford Paxton. "Police will have a presence and be visible in key areas.
The real worry for Mount Backpackers' Veale isn't necessarily too many people showing up this New Year's Eve. It's a lack of visitors, especially after the holiday ends, he said, explaining that he used to be able to count on a busy summer regardless of how much of a party atmosphere New Year's Eve was or wasn't.
"Now, with Covid, it's just not so busy," he said. "From around the 4th on it's just flat."
