Is it a good thing that the Long Beach 'cave rave' will be held at Sammy's?

Craver is quite right; the residents of Long Beach do not own the caves. They are under the land that belongs to the local farmer who owns land on the coast up to the Queens Chain. (Check the DCC website) The residents of Long Beach have always cleaned up rubbish from the domains, beach and surrounding areas. Also before coming under the auspices of the DCC, cleared tracks, maintained public lawns and gardens, cleared away debris after high winds and still continue to do so with permission of the DCC. This is classed as a rural area, no drainage, no water, no footpaths, 4 street lights and a speed limit of 30k. Penguins are fairly regular visitors to our beach and I have personally seen, blue eyed, yellow eyed and fiordland crested. Not a week goes by without a sea lion coming ashore. Why should they go elsewhere?There is almost no where else to go. Long Beach - quiet and peaceful just the way we like it

Have ravers considered being tolerant of the wishes of those who seek a quiet lifestyle? It goes both ways, you know, and as much as I agree that the youth 'do this sort of thing', this is how the youth learn to become reponsible adults - by discovering that they are not the only generation on the planet, and that they must learn to be tolerant of others.

There are many other venues that can be used for this sort of event. As for sharing the beach and caves, we do so willingly to those who also appreciate the beauty, peace and quiet and also care for wildlife.

I would like to extend an invitation to you to come and interview the residents of Long Beach regarding this issue. I think you may find your results illuminating.

I know of one resident who has made her concerns known via the medium of Channel 9, and at the meeting held at Long Beach all attending residents had their say, and they were all against the rave.

These people represented the majority of the residents.

The residents of Long Beach do have the privilege of a fantastic environment. However, they do not own the beach or the caves. They must learn to be tolerant of those who wish to share their wonderful surroundings. If this means the occasional empty beer can and slightly used condom, so be it. Youths have for centuries made noise and upset the older generation - it's what they do.
Safety concerns? 29 people have been killed in adventure-tourism activities in NZ in the past 5 years. How many people (excluding rockclimbers and miners) have been killed by falling rocks?
There have been many large parties in the caves, but none have been so well-planned as this cave rave.
Wildlife? No self-respecting penguin has been nesting in those dunes for many moons. Sea lions and cormorants are very adaptable to finding peaceful alternatives.
Have Long Beach residents been surveyed about how they, as individuals, feel about cave parties? No, I don't think so.
There must be about 100 residents in Long Beach. Hopefully, the majority are not nimbys.

People live at Long Beach for a reason. They put up with the haul over the mountain often through snow and over icy roads for a reason. They put up with no town water supply for a reason - peace and quiet in a beautiful natural environment. If they had wanted to be harassed by glass-breaking drunk and drugged individuals spinning their cars out of control whilst playing a thudding noise, they would have lived in Castle St. As it is, they have to put up with this sort of behaviour every weekend anyway.
Because the DCC does not provide a clean up service on the beach, the Long Beach residents pick up the broken glass, condoms, tampons and other rubbish strewn about on the domain and in the caves every week and dispose of this at their own expense. Just because they are proud of their environment.
Yes, the organisers of the rave have answered all the residents' concerns with assurances of "security' and 'clean up' and 'insurance', but what they don't understand is that for every ticket buyer, there will be someone else who will come to the area and be able to hear the music perfectly well whilst sitting on the beach, drinking and throwing bottles and cans, and then they will, for extra entertainment, hoon around the village and break letterboxes and cause other damage as happened at the last rave. The relatively small number of security staff and police would be stretched to control this.
An even more important issue is the safety of the wildlife. Imagine an event that already has 1000 people stomping all over the dunes, with music at decibels which would disorientate and frighten the resident and visiting wildlife, what about the hangers on? The wildlife does not stand a chance. I
and the majority of residents have been against this rave from the beginning and will continue to stand against it and any other event like it anywhere on the beach, domain and caves.

[Abridged]