Tauranga's deputy mayor says the council has pressed pause on the Mt Manganui New Year's Party rather than cancelled it all together.
On Tuesday, Tauranga City Council (TCC) voted not to organise a New Year's Eve event at Mt Maunganui's main beach this year.
However deputy mayor Kelvin Clout says they have not ruled out hosting another event in the future.
"What we are doing is having one year off, basically we are having a cup of tea or in this case a glass of ginger ale just to reassess what we should be doing in the future," he told Paul Henry.
He says an increase in sexual assaults, coward punches and group assaults have driven them to take a step back.
"In the last couple of years, the police and ourselves have noticed a considerable increase in the tension around New Year's Eve.
"We've really managed to dodge a bullet over the last few years and things could have gone really pear shaped but we managed just to hold in there."
The council has already faced backlash from the public and business owners over the decision, but Mr Clout says this was the best option to "break the tension".
"We know that on social media people have been talking about wanting to come back with retribution to what happened last year and so now we are really wanting to nip that in the bud."
He says another conversation around the future of the event will be had in the New Year however a re-vamped event might take on a different look.
"Certainly going forward we would like to see perhaps more of a family friendly event put on."
Newshub.
