New Year's Eve celebrations in Mount Maunganui and Tauranga are expected to attract thousands to the area. Photo / NZME
Thousands of people are expected to descend on Tauranga for New Year’s Eve celebrations with multiple events and festivals being held around the city.
One of the biggest leading up to New Year’s Eve is the L.A.B Summer Tour tonight at Wharepai Domain. This will be followed by the Famous Last Words event on December 31 and then Bay Dreams on January 3, both at Trustpower Baypark. Both events are expected to collectively draw crowds of 33,000, prompting the closure of two major roads leading into Mount Maunganui.
Truman Lane will be closed from 7am on January 3 to 7am on January 4, but public access to the transfer station will be maintained. The Tauranga Eastern Link, State Highway 2, will be closed from 8pm on January 3 to 1am on January 4.
Exeter St in Mount Maunganui will also be closed from 7am on January 3 to 1am on January 4.
A Tauranga City Council spokesperson said resident access would be maintained but the event may disrupt public transport. Bus users are asked to check the Baybus or call the free phone.
The council would also be putting on five free community New Year’s Eve celebrations - with live music, entertainment, food trucks and activities for the kids - hosted by a local MC around the city. These will be held at Gordon Spratt Reserve, the city waterfront, Fergusson Park in Matua, Blake Park and Tauranga Racecourse.
The events will finish with fireworks at 9.30pm, except the Greerton celebration which will finish with a laser light show because of horses on-site.
For those who experience sensory sensitivities and/or have accessibility requirements, the council’s Matua celebration will also have an earlier celebration from 5.30pm with limited sound and crowds.
And the fireworks are unlikely to be rained off.
Metservice meteorologist Thapi Makgabutlane said the Bay of Plenty may “be one of the better places to be” with good weather to bring in the new year.
It will be sunny skies in Tauranga to say goodbye to the final day of 2022 with daytime temperatures around 24C, and a bit of cloud in the evening. There will be southeast winds and afternoon northerly sea breezes.
The new year opens to mostly fine weather, with a bit more cloud during the second half of the day and slightly cooler temperatures of 22C, and the same southeast winds and afternoon northerly sea breezes, Makgabutlane said.
Sea temperatures for the weekend remain close to 21C and an easterly to northeasterly swell of half a metre is expected, she said.
“The Bay of Plenty might be one of the better places to be where temperatures are not too hot, winds not too strong and there’s not too much cloud.”
Tauranga has a mix of permanent and temporary alcohol-free areas, which means opened and unsealed alcohol can not be carried or consumed in these areas.
The temporary alcohol-free areas are in place until January 7 and coincide with existing alcohol-free areas.
In Mount Maunganui, an alcohol ban runs throughout the entire suburb and its beaches. The boundary includes Pilot Bay, the Main Beach to the end of Marine Parade, and down Tweed St through to Hull Rd. There was also a 24/7 ban at the Omanu Surf Club and on Waiariki St, Newton St and the Soper Reserve.
Oceanbeach Rd and Maranui St - from Tweed St to Sandhurst Drive - have an alcohol ban between 9pm and 7am.
In Pāpāmoa, the liquor-free areas are on the seaward side of Pāpāmoa Beach Rd, from Sandhurst Drive to the end of Karewa Parade, including Harrison’s Cut, Pāpāmoa Domain, Taylor Reserve and Motiti Reserve. A section of Domain Rd from the beach to Topaz Drive Reserve, and Gravatt Rd to just past Fashion Island is also subject to the alcohol ban.
The council has also placed a 24/7 ban on Truman Lane and State Highway 2 - from Sandhurst Drive to Girven Rd - from December 31 to January 7. This will include Gloucester Rd, Eversham Rd, Denny Hulme Drive, Francevic Ave and Ocean Downs Reserve.
On the other side of the bridge, there is a 24/7 ban in Welcome Bay’s Gordon Spratt Reserve, Alice Way and Parton Rd, Fergusson Park in Matua, and the Tauranga Race Course.
The temporary alcohol bans are in addition to existing bans at Memorial Park, Waitaha Reserve, including Welcome Bay Hall, Greerton Village, including Liston Park, and the Brookfield Shopping Centre and surrounding streets.
A police spokeswoman said there would be a strong police presence across the country, with a specific focus on traditional holiday hotspots.
Additional staff will be on the ground and there will be increased road patrols.
Police ask those people heading out for the night to have a plan including drinking responsibly, looking out for each other, arranging a safe way home, and agreeing on a meeting point with mates in case they become separated.
Police will be “highly visible” to make sure people are driving safely and without impairment.
Police have asked drivers to be patient as long delays and traffic queues are likely, and leave extra time for trips to factor in unforeseen hold-ups.