WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31 2018 Locally Owned www.star.kiwi Alison Carter Your local hill and seaside specialist. Hank finds a family Redcliffs home for Dogwatch star Enter now Iconic fun run – Are you up for it? Page 11 Page 18 P: 384 7950 M: 0274 318 960 E: alison.carter@harcourts.co.nz GRENADIER LICENSED SALES CONSULTANT REAA 2008 Abusive teens ‘out of control’ at yacht club • By Sarla Donovan THE Christchurch Yacht Club was overrun by more than 100 teenagers last week, prompting an emergency meeting. Club commodore Richard Ineson said some of the committee met on Wednesday night after crowds of young people using the club’s pontoon ignored requests to move out of the way. Mr Ineson said the situation had been “out of control.” “We couldn’t even drive our IRBs with outboards up to the pontoon there were so many people in the water and they wouldn’t get out.” No matter what he said, the young people simply “gave . . . the middle finger” and ignored him, Mr Ineson told the Bay Harbour News. “They were really abusive.” The club’s pontoon in Moncks Bay has been used by the public for the past 25 years without any problems, but hot weather and school holidays have made it a popular spot with teenagers this summer. Mr Ineson said he was reluctant to call police on Wednesday because everyone in the area would have to have been moved, including families. “It was very stressful.” The club had never had problems before, said Mr Ineson, but the influx this summer had been creating issues. An external tap on the clubhouse was vandalised last week and litter is regularly left strewn around. The club has members-only rights over the area, from the carpark to the slipway but it has always left it open for the public to use. “We want the community to use it and respect it,” said former club commodore Jo Hooker. She said people needed to be responsible. On Thursday Mr Ineson closed the area between 9am-3.30pm for a regatta but said he had had to police it. “If I wasn’t there, they would have climbed the rope and ignored the sign.” •Turn to page 5 POPULAR: The pontoon at the Christchurch Yacht Club in Moncks Bay was inundated with more than 100 teenagers last Wednesday. PHOTOS: MARTIN HUNTER OPENING SOON Friday, 2nd February WEDDINGS | EVENTS | FUNERALS | CORPORATE Plants, Art, Jewellery, Sculpture, Gifts 87 Main Rd, Redcliffs • 03 355 3449 (formerly Morgan & Page)
Change language