Two Facebook event pages advertising large open parties in Whangarei have put police on alert to ensure nothing gets out of control.
Four hundred people indicated they would be attending one of the parties scheduled for last night at Cresta Place, Onerahi. The other, police said, was planned to take place in Tikipunga tonight. It was advertised as having "alcohol provided" and 600 people said to be attending.
Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe said police would keep an eye on both addresses to ensure nothing got out of hand. "It could be kosher but it might not be. Either way we'll be keeping an eye on the address," he said.
Late yesterday a Housing New Zealand spokeswoman alerted the Advocate to the possibility of a party occurring at an empty state house in Cresta Place that was up for sale, after HNZ staff spotted the page on Facebook.
"They have no permission to be there at all," she said. "We've alerted the district commander ... We wanted to make sure there was no encouragement of this sort of activity occurring. We've done everything we can."