Hospice fireworks too much of a bang for some

One of the bands playing at the Hospice Fireworks display on Saturday night. Photo/Kiwi TV

The Wanganui Hospice fireworks show went off with a bang on Saturday night - too much of a bang for some local residents.

One Gonville resident, who did not wish to be named, lives half a kilometre from the racecourse, and said his house shook from the force of the explosions.

"I support Hospice, and I appreciate they were doing a fundraiser for a good cause. Most of the fireworks were fine, but it was the big ones with the really loud boom - they were unnecessary."

The man said his animals were "completely traumatised".

Other residents in the area reported houses shaking, animals frightened and car alarms being set off.

A Purnell St resident, who also did not want to be named, said she was relaxing at home with her family when the fireworks started.

"There were kids and animals panicking, and I thought a bomb had gone off. I was wondering if we should hide or if we should get out. It definitely seemed like something more sinister than fireworks at first."

The woman said it wouldn't have been so bad if she had been given warning.

Sandy McDougall, from Hospice, said she had received no complaints about the fireworks, which had lasted for just 10 minutes.

"We were aware that we were going to be letting off fireworks in a residential area, so we distributed fliers in the neighbouring streets two weeks beforehand.

"We were quite limited in where we could hold it. Cooks Gardens is too small, and the speedway wasn't really appropriate."

Ms McDougall said around 2000 people attended the event, which included music and a performance by the Massey University fire circus.

"The only hiccough on the night was that the wind was stronger than we liked, so the fire circus had to limit their performance. But it had been raining during the day, and the weather cleared just in time."

She said the fireworks, which were choreographed to music, had been very popular, especially with the children.

She wished to thank sponsors AXIAM, Armstrong Barton Lawyers and Harcourts Whanganui, as well as Brian FM and Fireworks New Zealand.