In a summary report to the Ahuriri Community Board meeting in Kurow this week, council had agreed to ban alcohol on the upper terrace of Loch Laird and the Benmore lake foreshore during Labour Weekend next month, council chief executive Alex Parmley said.
Loch Laird, administered by the council, is the closest campsite to Benmore Dam and is a popular outdoor destination particularly for camping, water skiing, walking and cycling.
Mr Parmley said the ban was "to protect the community and improve safety".
"The upper terrace of Loch Laird has been in previous years a venue for an informal party at Labour Weekend," he said.
"This historically created a variety of unsafe situations and anti-social behaviour — much of it related to the consumption of alcohol."
Mr Parmley said in the past three years an alcohol ban had seen the usual party-goers at Lake Benmore "making other arrangements".
Issues previously experienced around Otematata over the long weekend had consequently moderated, he said.
The decision reported to the Ahuriri Community Board came out of the district council’s August 27 meeting.
The matter was not canvassed in the public part of the meeting when the media was present.
