Wanaka ratepayers will likely have to pay for damage to the town's lakefront caused by holidaymakers and tourists parking their vehicles illegally on grassy verges over the New Year weekend.
Queenstown Lakes District (Wanaka ward) councillor Quentin Smith said he was ''really disappointed to see the level of abuse and apathy'' shown by the visitors to the Wanaka environment.
''It's great to see people out with friends and family having a good time but really disappointing to see the down side of broken glass everywhere and the total destruction of some of our grass areas on the foreshore.''
''We have spent all year looking after these areas and in some cases reseeding and grassing for them only to be destroyed in a few short days,'' he said.
With Wanaka growing in popularity, finding a car park along the foreshore can be difficult at almost any time of the year but with an estimated 35,000 people in the resort for New Year, traffic has been down to a crawl on the town's main thoroughfares and some drivers have gone to great lengths to find a park.
Many simply ignored the ''no parking'' signs but others moved large rocks placed on the grassy verges earlier this year by the council to stop people from parking on the grass.
The QLDC said it had increased the number and hours of parking enforcement officers in Wanaka but there were none evident in the town on New Year's Eve or yesterday.
Cr Smith said it was ''great to see many in the large crowd on New Year's Eve choosing to walk into town, which made a massive difference.''
''It would be nice to see that attitude extend to the rest of the period ... maybe next year we can just ban cars from the town centre for the week.''
''We love people coming here for the holidays, but please respect our home,'' he said.
QLDC parks and recreation staff could not be contacted but communications and engagement manager Naell Crosby-Roe said parking enforcement officers were working throughout the holidays, and if people had concerns about particular areas during this very busy period they could contact Queenstown staff on 03 441-0499 or Wanaka 03 443-0024 at any time.
