Weighty changes put show in doubt

RULES prohibiting Bellarine Agricultural Show volunteers from pegging down marquees could jeopardise the event.

A City of Greater Geelong permit condition has required the show at Portarlington Recreation Reserve to weight marquees down — not peg them — for the past three years.

Bellarine Agricultural Society president Janet McDonald said she feared the show, which has operated for 29 years, would struggle to continue.

“We can’t afford to keep the show going with the burden of the no tent peg rule,” she said. “We have been using pegs for 17 years in these exact spots without incident.”

The council has suggested show organisers use weights to hold down the tents. Ms McDonald said that occupational health and safety rules prevented volunteers from lifting weights heavier than 25kg.

“To be able to do the proper weight to replace a tent peg it would have to be 80kg to withstand the same amount of wind,” she said.

“Providing this weight will be financially onerous.”

Council economy, investment and attraction director Brett Luxford said all events with infrastructure that needed to be secured to the ground were required to use weights rather than pegs to avoid damaging any undocumented underground services and protect public health and safety.

“Event organisers that prefer to use pegs may do so with a qualified contractor who is able to conduct a Geo Scan to identifyimpacting underground services,” he said.

“Historically, there have been situations where pegging has caused damage to underground infrastructure such as water pipes or electrical cabling, which has the potential to be life-threatening.”

Ms McDonald said the costs of running the show increased every year and each year the show just managed to cover its coststhrough fundraising.