A Melbourne council is set to ban public drinking in a bid to avoid New Year’s Eve spiralling out of control again at a popular inner-city park.
And it will spend $250,000 to put the booze bans in place.
On Tuesday night Yarra Council will consider banning public drinking in parks in the 24 hours before New Year's Eve, in a direct attempt to stop a third year of wild parties at Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North.
But one councillor said the bans went too far, treating the New Year’s celebration like "a bikie party or a war zone when it is a hipster festival".
Last year’s Edinburgh Gardens party flew out of control after social media and word-of-mouth attracted 15,000 revellers. It got so wild emergency services deemed the park too dangerous to enter.
It left a $30,000 clean-up bill and the park littered with thousands of bottles and, according to the council, "hundreds of tell-tale acrylic ampoules, indicating use of GHB or other drugs".
Ambulance Victoria wants alcohol bans in place this year, as does Victoria Police, which estimated up to 120 officers would be needed to control the area if there was another huge party.
Source: theage.com.au
