New Year’s Eve revellers across the region have been praised by Limestone Coast police for welcoming in 2023 in a well-behaved fashion – despite towns bursting at the seams.

Limestone Coast Commander Superintendent Campbell Hill was pleased by the trouble-free events held throughout the region.

“We do not have any accurate data in terms of numbers, based on experience pretty much all of our venues were at capacity right along the southern ports as we expected,” he said.

“We had really high occupancy in licensed venues and restaurants and to a lesser degree people out and about on the streets, but the cooler weather along the coast had an impact.

“We had quite a lot of movement across the Limestone Coast for New Year’s, particularly in Southend and Robe’s Long Beach, but there was nothing of any SAPOL demand.

“Anecdotally for the density and the influx of visitors there have been no problems reported so far.”

Supt Hill said the first COVID restriction free New Year’s Eve for several years, coupled with flooding along traditional tourist hot spots on the River Murray, had resulted in tourists flocking to the Limestone Coast.

“I am keen to highlight that it has occurred in years gone by a bit of an influx, or uptick, in crime reported, but we have seen none of that this year,” he said.

“Immediately post New Year we have not seen the volume of general uptick in demand and we are really, really pleased and really appreciate that.

“People visit the region and inject a lot into the economy and make it a thriving place, people have embraced it and gone about it in the right way.”

Supt Hill said accommodation providers had been booked solid, with many having cancellation lists, resulting in swathes of tourists opting to camp in the region.

“At Long Beach at Robe there has been a lot of camping, in the days immediately before Christmas and at sustained levels leading up to New Year’s,” he said.

“It is the first time here in the Limestone Coast that I have seen a lot more camping … by definition it’s illegal camping, but I would call it a big uptick in free camping.

“There are people in areas we do not normally see, with that it has not led to any issues through a policing lens,” Supt Hill said.

“We knew through our information and intelligence that flood events along the Murray a lot of people have been redirected for holidays and we knew there were people coming this way … they had to find alternative accommodation.

“The feedback from a lot of our people were that people were travelling and we had a really high level of cars on the roads, we always knew that was going to be the case, so our messaging was for them to take their time and allow plenty of time.

“We have seen so far a really, really pleasing uptake in that message with people taking their time.

“From a road safety point of view we have seen a few idiots but nothing with catastrophic results.

“Without doubt we have seen high volume and higher density traffic, but within our driver testing and speed testing … we have not seen an uptick of drink drivers.

“Our numbers have not shot through the roof in terms of people doing the wrong thing, it’s really been the best-case scenario as far as we’re concerned, and I hope that trend continues.”

Supt Hill said patrons had filled hospitality premises across the region.

“We saw consistently lots and lots of people, venues at capacity and people out in the street, my own perception is that we would not have had room for any more people,” he said.

“Even during the day … especially in Robe and Beachport there were people coming in from dunes et cetera and restocking food and booze, there were ridiculously high levels of numbers in the towns.

“But around dinner time people were bedded down in campsites.

“We have seen absolutely bursting at the seams towns down the coast and even Mount Gambier was a very high energy, high density population across the board.

“No doubt people have been seeing and experiencing it themselves, there has been a very well minded attitude for our visitors.

“People who live here and play host to visitors, there’s been a lot of patience on the roads, in our licenced premises and shops.

“It has made it very easy for us without having to deal with minor issues, it’s been great, we have been able to do what we want to do with a prevention first mindset.”