New Year arrives with a bang in Cowes

THERE was traffic chaos in Cowes as a near record crowd attempted to get away from the annual New Year's Eve fireworks display on the foreshore on Wednesday, December 31 shortly after 10pm.

The fireworks started promptly at 9.30pm after families, couples and individuals had been streaming into the Jetty Triangle for more than an hour, choosing vantage points above the Cowes front beach, down towards the jetty, around the cenotaph and across to the bay beach.

A privateer launched the first salvo just before 9.30pm but that was soon forgotten as the main blasts went up from a cordoned off area out on the jetty.

Boats had gathered in the bay, leaving plenty of space back from the jetty and there were plenty of oohs, aahs and cheers as the biggest and most colourful of the explosions lit up the sky.

Reports put the length of the display at nine minutes, well short of the fireworks after the Carols By The Bay earlier in the month but satisfying nonetheless.

Organisers had taken all the precautions with the Phillip Island Fire Brigade rolling three of their appliances into position at either end of the new one-way strip on The Esplanade, a big team from Victorian First Aid in position, security, shire staff and police all in attendance.

But there were no incidents.

Only the inevitable traffic jam marred proceedings with Bass Avenue, The Esplanade, Chapel Street, Thompson Avenue and all routes away from the foreshore in gridlock.

Those who simply chose to walk made the best progress, able to walk back to their accommodation, even on the outskirts of town well before the traffic snarl cleared.

But everyone was home well in time to welcome in the New Year watching the fireworks display from Sydney Harbour or at their own parties.

Some illegal fireworks went off locally at 12 midnight and even a marine flare or two, but it was noticeable there were fewer such incidents than in other years.

Police effort sees safe start to New Year

Police reported a generally safe start to the New Year apart from detecting one drunk driver at Cape Woolamai.

More than 2300 police including general duties police and officers from the Public Order Response Team, Critical Incident Response Team, Mounted Branch, Highway Patrol and Air Wing were deployed to monitor crowd behaviour and ensure safety.

St Kilda and Geelong were declared designated areas for weapons searches, with Melbourne’s CBD already declared one until the end of May.

Provisional data for the night indicate there were:

* 18 people arrested for various incidents including assaults, driving and property offences.

* 313 fireworks-related incidents reported, several of which resulted in serious injuries.

* Three drink drivers with readings of 0.123 and 0.78 in Sorento and 0.090 in Altona. The 31-year-old Tasmanian male who blew 0.123 was fined $865 and immediately disqualified from driving in Victoria for 12 months.

* Two drug drivers, one each in Altona and Cape Woolamai

* Five booze buses were deployed which helped conduct over 5,146 preliminary breath tests and roadside drug tests

NYE State Commander, Acting Commander Belinda Jones, was pleased with police preparations and the response from the community:

“Victoria Police and our emergency services partners put extensive preparations in place for New Year’s Eve to ensure the community could celebrate safely.

“Overwhelmingly we saw great behaviour by crowds overnight with people heeding our advice to celebrate safely and responsibly.

“There was a small number of people who took it too far and chose to do the wrong thing. All reported incidents were resolved quickly ensuring no disruption to the wider community.

“I want to thank every police officer who assisted across the state to ensure Victorians could enjoy the festivities safely.”

She said it was disappointing to see across the state people took risks with illegal and dangerous fireworks.

Among those injured were a 31-year-old Mickleham man, hospitalised with serious facial injuries and a 43-year-old Corio man, also hospitalised with a serious finger injury.

A rooftop garden became victim to the fireworks too with vegetation igniting on top of a Treasury Place building.

The fire was extinguished quickly, and no one was injured.

In Lorne, which became a focus for Western Region due to large crowds on the main beach, a 16-year-old boy was questioned by police following the deployment of a flare during the planned 9.30pm fireworks.

Operation OMNI gave police special search powers under the control of weapons act and assisted in detecting several people with questionable intentions.

Following one search at Flinders Street Railway Station police will allege a 17-year-old boy was found with an angle grinder, balaclava, gloves and items suspected to be used to break and enter.

The teenager, from the Frankston area, who was wanted by police on other matters, was charged and bailed to a children’s court at a later date.

Police also responded to several assault related incidents across the state.

In one incident a 15-year-old boy was assaulted by three offenders on Southbank Promenade in the early hours of this morning.

During the assault the teenager was allegedly punched in the face and lost a tooth.

Detectives are investigating the assault and assisted the young man with arranging transport home

A New Year’s Eve hoon meet resulted in a coordinated effort including uniform members, highway patrol and Air Wing in tracking down a fleeing vehicle and the arrest of its three occupants.

Successful deployment of stop-sticks in Williams Landing helped catch the 15-year-old boy, 23-year-old and 26-year-old men who hid in bushes when their Ford Falcon gave up.

The Ford was impounded from the Laverton scene at a cost of $999.

There will continue to be a highly visible police presence across the state today with a particular focus on road safety as people sleep off their big nights.

Motorists are being urged not to take the risk if they think they are over the limit. Police will be highly visible across the state’s roads and will be conducting random drug and alcohol testing anywhere, any time.

Anyone with information on any incidents overnight is urged to report them to police. Information can be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers via 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.