The council yesterday agreed to a liquor ban that would permanently include the North Dunedin student area, allowing police to end the keg party.
Mr Cull yesterday told a meeting of the council's planning and environment committee, which voted to begin public consultation on the proposal, there were serious concerns about the possibility of injury or death at events like the Hyde St party.
"This is not about control, it's about keeping people safe," Mr Cull said.
The Dunedin Hospital's emergency department was "overflowing" on the night of the party.
But concerns ran deeper than that.
Young people ended up choking in their own vomit in gutters, and if emergency services needed to intervene for that, or for couch fires, such was the crush in Hyde St, they would be unable to help those in danger.
Mr Cull said the problem was societal; it was not just students who believed binge-drinking was acceptable.
"We all say `it's a risky thing, but that's what we do'."
He said the university and the council were concerned about the city's reputation.
The committee yesterday considered a report from liquor licensing and projects officer Kevin Mechen to extend Dunedin's central-city liquor ban to permanently include the North Dunedin student area.
The committee also considered reviewing the present liquor restrictions in the central city to add a requirement for police to warn people in the first instance, unless it was impractical to do so.
In the report, Mr Mechen said Dunedin only extended its 24-hour, seven-day central-city liquor restriction into North Dunedin for events that were likely to "lead to excessive alcohol consumption and subsequent street disorder".
But some of these events were "impromptu" and occasionally organisers changed the times or deliberately avoided announcing the date too early, making it difficult for the city to respond.
He said yesterday people who were not students, from towns like Milton and Balclutha, attended Hyde St, and initiatives like Campus Watch, and the "Campus Cop" could not deal with them on their own.
It emerged yesterday the push for the ban had not come just from police, but from former university vice-chancellor Prof Sir David Skegg and present vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne.
Otago University Students' Association president Logan Edgar last night responded to the news, saying he was not convinced the Hyde St event could be policed "properly and efficiently".
He questioned the city's decision to attempt to ban what he said was a "cultural celebration" that could be seen around the world.
He gave mardi gras celebrations as an example, and said the city was happy to take the economic benefits students provided, but not accept the difficulties.
The plan for the ban did not pass through the committee debate without reference to the recent spat between the council and police over last year's Occupy Dunedin protest.
Cr Neil Collins accepted he was being "cynical", but wondered if the police would take action.
"Police are asking us to extend a bylaw so they can arrest someone after warning them," he said.
"We had a bylaw against camping in the Octagon, but the police didn't do anything."
However, there was little opposition to the idea.
Asked after the meeting if police had indicated they could close down the Hyde St party using the bylaw, Mr Cull said "not specifically", but police were involved in the North Dunedin Working Party along with the council and the university.
The discussion about the bylaw had taken place at working party meetings, and police had supported it, so Mr Cull expected they would be able to use it for that purpose.
The public submission period for the proposal will begin on February 25 and end on March 26.
Crs Colin Weatherall, Andrew Noone and Kate Wilson were appointed to a hearings committee to consider the proposal.
