Police urge organisers to cancel car event

The organiser of a late-night car event planned for this weekend in Taranaki has ‘‘postponed’’ the meetup in the hopes it won’t breach Covid-19 rules.

Taranaki is currently in Covid-19 alert level 2 and under Ministry of Health rules events that are held outdoors but not at an event facility must follow the rules for social gatherings, which limits the number of attendees to 100 people.

But 460 people have responded as ‘‘going’’ on the event Facebook page, North Island invades New Plymouth, and 1200 have registered their interest.

The event was created by Taranaki man Joe Brown, 21, but is also connected to Facebook group New Zealand Car Enthusiasts, which it described as ‘‘car enthusiasts, drags and skids and everything about cars’’ and said the car meets travel the country.

Brown said after talking with police he had changed the event page’s status to postponed to ‘‘try and keep it down to 100’’.

He planned to meet with coorganisers last night to figure out how they could run the event at the weekend while adhering to the Covid restrictions.

‘‘We won’t be telling any more than 100 people where the secret location is,’’ Brown said.

‘‘If anyone follows us, we will disperse. I am taking seriously what police have advised.’’

The page instructs attendees to meet at TSB Stadium at 9pm tonight before they move on to their ‘‘first spot’’ at 10pm. Cars attending should have a valid warrant and registration, the event page stated.

It also advises ‘‘no illegal activities at the meeting spot, don’t drink and drive, no fighting and dramas, pick up your rubbish’’.

Motivated by the rules of level 2, Acting Senior Sergeant Andrew Wong Too said he spoke with Brown on Wednesday and hoped he would cancel the event completely.

‘‘We were hoping they’d realise there’s a risk in large gatherings.’’

People from out-of-town, including from Waikato, which currently has areas in level 3, had planned to attend, Wong Too believed.

If it went ahead it would pose a health and safety risk and would also threaten the reputation of the Taranaki community and genuine car enthusiasts, he said.

‘‘Everyone else has had to make sacrifices with events being shutdown due to Covid restrictions.

‘‘I’d hope they’d all recognise that.’’

Wong Too said officers working tonight night were aware of what was planned and what may eventuate. ‘‘We’re not really sure what to expect. These sorts of things can take on a life of their own.’’

‘‘Everyone else has had to make sacrifices with events being shutdown due to Covid restrictions.’’ Andrew Wong Too police acting senior sergeant