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Otago Daily Times
02-05-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Alcohol ban extended for festival
The Alexandra Blossom Festival alcohol ban will now stretch to cover the Teviot Valley. PHOTO: GREGOR RICHARDSON A ban on alcohol being drunk in public will be extended in a move designed to provide police with another "tool" for managing antisocial behaviour connected to the Alexandra Blossom Festival and the Merino Shears competition. Elected members of the Central Otago District Council voted unanimously in support of the change at Wednesday's full council meeting, where they heard from police about problems in recent years. Police pushed for the geographical area of the ban to be extended as well as its timeframe and the council obliged. The alcohol ban will now stretch to cover the Teviot Valley as well as the weekend after the popular spring festival. At the meeting, Sergeant Adam Elder, of Alexandra, told councillors police had seen more alcohol being consumed over the period and that in turn had led to an increase in antisocial behaviour. He showed a booklet of photographs depicting the sorts of scenes their teams had encountered in 2024 — highlighted, were the hordes of largely southern "car enthusiasts" travelling in convoy to attend "Blossie". Sgt Elder said, at the school in Millers Flat, police encountered people urinating and causing disorder, and as a result the school community had opted to install security cameras. Other people caused damage at the Millers Flat tavern, he said, while others posed a risk to other road users at Raes Junction and through the Roxburgh Gorge, by "standing on the road and drinking alcohol". "We also had several serious incidents involving members of the contingent, which included an assault and threatening act with a weapon and an arson of a vehicle," he said. While Sgt Elder acknowledged "the balance of the community" might find the policy shift to be restrictive, the "overriding goal" was "to mitigate the level of harm" caused by alcohol. By Kim Bowden
Otago Daily Times
23-04-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Plan to extend alcohol ban area during festival
Photo: ODT files The Central Otago District Council looks set to extend alcohol bans in the region during the blossom festival, as police say the event itself causes them little issue but the drinking around it is a "heat source" for trouble. Last December, the council proposed to increase the areas covered by an alcohol ban. As well as having bans on the towns of Alexandra, Clyde and Cromwell it also wanted to place a ban on the Teviot Valley to the council border at Raes Junction. The council has sought comment on its proposal and is set to confirm the new policy at a council meeting next week. In a submission, Senior Sergeant Clint Wright, of Alexandra, said the current bylaws, dates and times were appropriate but had limitations. "The new additions provide further tools to be able to enforce bylaws, control disorder and undesirable behaviours," he said. He said the festival was run very well and had made incremental improvements every year around safety and alcohol-related compliance. "The festival itself is minimal demand for local police however the hoard of vehicle enthusiasts and intoxicated passengers coming from Dunedin, Balclutha, Gore and Invercargill is still a significant heat source for Otago Lakes police." He said extending the ban to the Teviot Valley would enable police to enforce rules around the consumption of alcohol and choke points in the Teviot Valley's townships, on the Roxburgh Dam and other areas of concern. He said the proposed changes were not overly restrictive but were "prudent and provide further tools to rectify behaviours which rightly upset our locals". The proposal was to also extend the ban to the Merino Shears weekend, which happened a few weeks after the blossom festival. The centre of the blossom festival event is usually in the last weekend of September. Snr Sgt Wright said over the last couple of years, there had been a rise in alcohol-related offending around the Merino Shears event and two years ago, police had to form a skirmish line to move on a large number of intoxicated patrons. The council also proposed to continue with its liquor ban in certain areas over the Christmas-New Year period. Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora also supported the liquor ban as did Hospitality New Zealand.
