Pāpāmoa Beach resident Bruce Hutchinson stands in a bare patch of damaged and trampled dunes and holds some of the rubbish left behind following the party. Photo: Photo / Sandra Conchie
Alcohol cans, bottles, pants, bras, and condoms were found scattered along the Pāpāmoa dunes after an "all-night" party.
Witnesses have described the "aftermath" of a party they say was attended by dozens of teenagers in the dunes at the Pāpāmoa Beach Reserve near Hartford Ave on Friday.
Pāpāmoa Beach resident Sophie Lister said while she was on her usual daily walk about 6am on Saturday she stopped to help a group of people clean up dozens of RTD cans, bottles, items of clothing including trousers, bras and condoms, tents, chairs, and other rubbish left scattered in the dunes.
Lister said there was also the remains of a log fire above the high tide mark and plants along the dunes had been trampled.
"This is the worst littering and damage I have ever seen down here. It makes me so angry, and the damage to the plants and the dunes will take a very long time to recover."
Lister said given the number of empty cans and bottles, it appeared there had been dozens of people having a big party.
Regular police patrols to monitor the beach, particularly during summer, and better education to remind people that sort of behaviour was "not acceptable" could help to prevent it from happening again, she said.
A Tauranga City Council littering warning sign at Pāpāmoa Beach Reserve. Photo: Photo / Sandra Conchie
Pāpāmoa Beach resident Bruce Hutchinson said when he arrived at the beach around 6.30am to take his regular walk, four people including Lister, were helping clear up the mess.
"I'm dismayed and absolutely appalled. It's not just the rubbish but it's the extensive fresh damage to the dunes, and the dune plants, which makes me angry, especially because the plantings and dune care protection work is undertaken by volunteers."
Hutchinson said he visited the beach three or four times a week.
"Sometimes there are cans and bottles scattered around, and the wire fencing along the beach access track is regularly damaged. But this is definitely the worst case of littering and damage I have seen. It doesn't bode well for the coming summer months.
"I don't want to spoil people's fun, nor do I want to be the morals police, but this is not okay. We need to have serious consequences for anyone who desecrates our beaches and thinks they can get away with it."
One Pāpāmoa Beach Rd resident, who also asked not to be named for fear of repercussion, said around 7.30pm or 8pm about 15 young women aged between, in his opinion, 14 and 20, were dropped off by adults on the side of the road near the Beach Grove Holiday Park.
The father of three young children said initially they were not causing any concern but the group later grew to as many as 40 people.
At 11.30pm, the father called 111 after witnessing people in the group fighting and doing burnouts on the road. One of the vehicles nearly hit a fence, he said.
He called again at 12.30am when he saw people rip out three or four bollards in the beach reserve carpark.
At 2.30am he called again and police arrived.
"I even had to yell out to some of these young people to get off my fence but fortunately they only gave me a bit of lip. They also tried to smash my signage and the lights in the front yard with a bottle."
The father said his children were scared and crying after hearing screaming, shouting, fighting, and bottles smashing on the roadside.
He said he cleared up "quite of bit of smashed glass, boxes and food wrappers" scattered along the road the morning after.
"I don't feel there are enough police resources available around this time of night to deal with these sorts of incidents. And I feel if something serious did happen it could mean it will be left up to us residents to try to deal with it until the police are free to attend."
A Pāpāmoa Beach Rd resident, who asked not to be identified, said when he arrived home around 1am on Saturday, he saw about 30 to 40 females and males gathered on the roadside near the entranceway to the Beach Grove Holiday Park.
"There were also 10 cars parked up and many in the group were drinking, some doing burnouts and others were shouting, screaming, and smashing bottles."
The resident's sister, who also asked not to be named, said the unruly group of teenagers was so loud she could hear them despite wearing headphones while watching TV.
She said about 12.45am one of their neighbour's letterboxes was ripped from its stand and smashed to bits and about an hour later a police officer pulled up and spoke to someone in the group for a few minutes.
"But once the officer left they carried on about another hour or so."
The duty manager at the Beach Grove Holiday Park on Monday morning was not aware of the rubbish on the beach.
Police were advised by a member of the public of an event at the beach on 26 November, a spokeswoman said.
"A couple of reports of excess noise and dangerous driving in the Pāpāmoa Beach area were made during the course of the evening."
The spokeswoman said police responded to the area at about 1.15am and spoke with participants.
"Police deploy based on demand and the threat posed by the report and responded to this incident appropriately given the information available to us."
No one was arrested or injured, she said.
Tauranga City Council manager of sustainability and waste Sam Fellows said it received a call about 6am to advise there had been a party at the beach and there were bottles and rubbish strewn all over the beach and walkway.
"We then advised our contractor, who went to the site and cleaned up."
* This story first appeared on the New Zealand Herald website.