HNZ bong party invite

The HNZ property at Onerahi.

Two Facebook event pages advertising large open parties in Whangarei have put police on alert to ensure nothing gets out of control.

Four hundred people indicated they would be attending one of the parties scheduled for last night at Cresta Place, Onerahi. The other, police said, was planned to take place in Tikipunga tonight. It was advertised as having "alcohol provided" and 600 people said to be attending.

Senior Sergeant Cliff Metcalfe said police would keep an eye on both addresses to ensure nothing got out of hand. "It could be kosher but it might not be. Either way we'll be keeping an eye on the address," he said.

Late yesterday a Housing New Zealand spokeswoman alerted the Advocate to the possibility of a party occurring at an empty state house in Cresta Place that was up for sale, after HNZ staff spotted the page on Facebook.

"They have no permission to be there at all," she said. "We've alerted the district commander ... We wanted to make sure there was no encouragement of this sort of activity occurring. We've done everything we can."

One person commented on the Cresta Place party event page asking for someone to "bring a bong please" and later in the afternoon people were asking if the party would be moved to a different address. Residents of Cresta Place said yesterday they had not heard there would be a party at the empty house and wished the hosts "good luck".

"There'll be no party there, I can tell you that. You don't want to be holding parties here."

Another resident said the house the party was planned at had been empty for about six months. He said police cars had driven past earlier that afternoon.

Mr Metcalfe said the other Facebook event page advertising a party in Tikipunga said alcohol and a barbecue would be provided. He warned others against planning open parties.

"I don't know where this came from. Who in their right mind would advertise an open party on Facebook? It's going to get out of control and there's guaranteed to be a police presence," he said.