Residents petition council to reject music festival
Almost 150 residents living near Lardner Park have signed a petition asking the council to reject a permit for a three-day music and camping festival at New Year.
However, their efforts appear to be wasted with the council stating it will work with the promoters of Beyond the Valley to ensure the event is successful.
About 16,000 people are expected to attend the festival, from December 29-January 1, with most camping on site.
At the festival launch, The Gazette was told that music would end at 10.30pm on the first night and “shortly after midnight” on subsequent nights.
However, last week organisers confirmed that music would run “up until 2am” on December 30 and 31, although it could finish earlier.
Petition organiser Helen Case said there had been no consultation with residents living near the venue.
“The first I heard of it was when I read an article in the Gazette.
“We have no problem with the event itself. We just don’t believe this is the right location for a music festival.”
She has since spoken to mayor Debbie Brown and councillors about residents’ concerns.
She said one of the councillors had suggested that if residents were concerned, they should go away for the weekend.
“I found that insulting. I live here. I pay my rates. People have got animals. They can’t just pack up and leave.”
The council is currently assessing a building application for a Place of Public Entertainment submitted by the festival company on October 23.
Council’s director of planning and economic development Matthew Cripps said the POPE considered aspects of the event, including all temporary structures, access and egress, emergency management and safety management and sanitary facilities.
“If the applicant does not satisfy the municipal building surveyor with the information submitted in association with the POPE application then the application may not be supported.
“In addition to the POPE, council will also be involved in the assessment of the proposed event’s environmental and amenity impacts as well as health approvals for food and drink vendors.”
Mr Cripps said the application process was not publicly advertised and there was no third party involvement.
“Through all of these processes, the council will work closely with our local emergency services and the applicant to ensure the event is successful, safe for patrons, and will be respectful of the community and the area in which it is located.”
Craig Lovett, director of Incognitus, the company organising the event, said the festival organisers were keen to hear residents’ concerns and do what they could to address them.
He said the festival owners could have sold 20,000 tickets, but had capped numbers at 16,000 to minimise disruption.
“They want to build a home for their event. They are here for the long haul.”
He said the first Beyond the Valley festival, held last year at Phillip Island, ran without a hitch and without a single arrest.
He believed most residents of Warragul and Drouin would come to see the event as an asset for the area.
Ms Case said wind direction on the day would determine which residents were most affected by noise, but all would be affected by the increased traffic.
Festival organisers are running shuttle buses from Drouin railway station but thousands of festival goers are expected to arrive in private vehicles.
Residents also expressed concerns about drug-affected festival goers wandering the countryside.
Mr Lovett said more than 400 security officers would work at the festival.
“I’ve never worked on an event in which so much effort is going into security and site safety.
“We’ve secured the boundaries, we’ll have dog searches at every entry. We’ve gone heavy on our website.”
As for concerns that festival traffic would disrupt local roads over the three days, he said once the festival goers arrived, they would not be able to remove their vehicles until January 1.
“The notion of people wandering the countryside is just wrong.”
Ms Case said it was important for residents to continue to make their opposition clear.
“We might not be able to stop this event but we might be able to stop further ones.”