Central Victorians are urged to ring in the new year safely and responsibly on Monday night.
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Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said there would be a highly visible police presence across the state.
“We’ll be out there, we’ll be targeting anti-social behaviour obviously, we’ll be targeting people who are involved in any type of violent crime, and obviously drink and drug-driving is still going to be a significant focus for us,” Deputy Commissioner Patton said.
On the roads, he said, there would be significant enforcement activity surrounding impaired driving, distracted driving and speeding, with a particular emphasis on drink and drug-driving.
Read more: Find out what’s on for New Year’s Eve
Deputy Commissioner Patton urged people to drink responsibly and look after each other while celebrating tonight.
He said it was also important people did not use fireworks unless they had a licence to do so, saying one man almost lost a hand in an incident last year.
“From a Victoria Police perspective, the message is simply this: we’re not the anti-party police,” he said.
“We want you to be out there having a good time, but we will be very fair, we will also be very firm.”
There will be a full roster of police officers working in Bendigo for New Year’s Eve.
The consumption of alcohol within Bendigo’s CBD is prohibited in public places without an appropriate liquor licence.
City of Greater Bendigo’s safe and healthy environments manager Caroline Grylls said the council wanted the city’s new year celebration to be a family-friendly event.
Those caught with an open container of alcohol inside the declared area – which is bound by Don and Myrtle streets, Barnard Street, Water and Baxter streets, and Bramble, Mundy and McLaren streets – face a $200 fine.
This year there will again be two rounds of fireworks from Rosalind Park to celebrate the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019.
There will be an early display at 9.15pm, then another at midnight as the clock ticks over into the new year.
City of Greater Bendigo’s manager of tourism and major events Terry Karamaloudis said the fireworks event was “an exciting way to finish the year”.
An 85-metre exclusion zone applies around the poppet head in Rosalind Park.
The car park off Gaol Road will be closed from 6am Monday until about 9am Tuesday.
The fireworks displays will be cancelled if a total fire ban is declared.
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