Yesterday it was revealed the cameras, switched on last Friday, were shut down during the weekend to allow for technical adjustments to their wireless connections.
Queenstown Lakes District Council yesterday downplayed issues with the system, consisting of 10 high-resolution cameras, which was approved in council's last annual plan, for an estimated cost of $150,000.
Community services manager Paul Wilson said "a bit of tinkering" was needed before the system went back online, likely before the week's end.
"We anticipated there would be a period of adjustment," Mr Wilson said.
While he acknowledged it was "always our aim" to have the system available as an extra tool during the festival, he disagreed it was a setback.
In late April, Senior Sergeant John Fookes, of Queenstown, said the system, then on track to be running by mid-May, was well-timed "not just for Winter Festival, but for the winter period, when town gets pretty busy".
This date was delayed to June 22, the opening day of the Winter Festival.
Mr Wilson said the installation delay was due to issues such as power supplies, as it was "not as simple as plugging a camera into a wall".
The opening weekend of Winter Festival produced plenty of alcohol-related crime, and Sergeant Keith Newell on Sunday commented there were "far too many arrests". Nine people were arrested for disorderly behaviour or violence.
Examples of the alcohol-fuelled incidents included a French man who suffered a broken nose from a fight in a bar and an 18-year-old from Bluff, also arrested for fighting, who had thought he was in Invercargill.
Queenstown police were unavailable for comment yesterday.
