Gatecrashers blamed as police halt unruly party

The organiser of a Tauranga party that was shut down by police early on Sunday  said party-goers were not to blame for the noise and disruption.
Pato Alvarez, of Smile Dance Parties, a DJ and event organiser  for six years in his native South America and New Zealand, said the problems were caused by people trying to gatecrash the party of 200 invited guests.
Tauranga police shut down the party, at a private residence on Fourth Ave,  after reports of more than 100 young people cavorting on the streets.
Three people were charged with breaching  the liquor ban and one with disorderly behaviour. Police said three other disorderly behaviour arrests in the CBD were also linked to the party.
Mr Alvarez said the private party was a combined farewell for two men in their 20s, who were going overseas, and a get-together for staff from five Tauranga bars.
The Chile-born 23-year-old had taken advantage of the midnight closing on the eve of Anzac Day to get people from the hospitality industry together as they usually worked too late to socialise with each other.
However, the early closing time had brought with it unforseen problems after uninvited bar patrons made their way to the party when bars closed.
Mr Alvarez said  10 security guards had been working at the party, with  strict controls on who was allowed in.
Invited guests, who each contributed $10 towards the cost of entertainment and the waterfront venue, known as "The Boat Shed", were given wrist bands on arrival.
Alcohol was not sold at the party but guests were able to bring their own.  Cleaners had been hired to tidy up after the event.
Immediate neighbours were informed of the party and some were even invited, he said.
"This was fully professional. At midnight, heaps of people came - uninvited - from town and tried to get in but they were not allowed. A couple of guys started fights outside ... the people outside were the ones causing the trouble," he explained.
"How do you stop people when they come and they come and they come?"
Some people were so desperate to get in they were offering to pay $100, he said.
Mr Alvarez, who ran the Raglan Dance Festival at Easter, admitted he had been a little naive in his choice of location and said he would make other arrangements for future events.
This could involve bussing party-goers to a secluded, secret location,  made known to them  only on arrival.
He would also be taking advice from police.
"What I learnt was - don't do it next to a neighbourhood or next to town," he said.