Beach party aftermath irks residents

The aftermath of a beach party in Te Awanga on Friday night has residents outraged.

Te Awanga residents woke to a mass of broken bottles on Saturday morning after some "extreme littering" from a horde of "disrespectful teens."

About 70 partygoers smashed an estimated 120 glass bottles in the area surrounding the Te Awanga Community Hall on Friday evening.

A local resident said the large group of young people "drank, hooned in their cars and threw their bottles and cans all over the road in front of the hall, on the beach and in the gated playground."

Bottles were left all over a playground after a party over the weekend.

There was also a pair of women's jeans found inside out on the road.

"Many broken glass bottles had to be picked up out of the sand and out of the playground before any children came to play," a resident said.

The concerned local said the area had "the odd party here and there" but not on this scale and not with the level of disrespect shown.

Locals believe the party was organised through Facebook by a group of Hastings teenagers.

Police were unavailable for comment yesterday evening

Hastings councillor Rod Heaps was appalled by the state of the area.

"It was atrocious. They just obliterated the beach. It's the first time ever I've seen something to that degree. There is just no excuse for it."

Mr Heaps said no one in the Village knew anything about the party which suggests the organisers came from outside the area. "There were a lot of boy racer-type cars heading out of Te Awanga in the early hours of Saturday morning."

Other than residents becoming more vigilant, Mr Heaps said there was unfortunately little they could do.