“The risk of an overdose versus the time taken to reach critical care, the condition of the local road network and its impact on any required response from emergency services”
are just some of the strong objections police have raised over a proposed music festival for Yass Valley.
The Yass Valley Council is set to hold an Extraordinary Meeting of Council tomorrow, 10 November, to discuss the topic of the likely refusal for a multi-day music festival at a property on Dicks Creek Road, proposed to be held between 25-28 November this month.
“The application attracted 27 submissions, with 26 objections. There is insufficient time available to enable a complete assessment of the application, and relevant concerns cannot be addressed via conditions,” stated the staff report to Councillors.
“It is recommended that Council refuses the event date of 25-28 November 2022 and invites the Applicant to amend their Development Application to another date in 2023 for further consideration.
“The site is located in an area characterised by rural and rural lifestyle properties, including a number with dwelling houses. The Yass River is approximately 1.5km to the northeast and the landscape is generally undulating.
“The site is located at the intersection of Dicks Creek Road and Whites Road, with the event entrance from Whites Roads. Part of the site is open grazing land with pockets of remnant vegetation or scattered paddock trees, whilst the rest of the site is more heavily vegetated of varying density and dominated by Southern Tableland Grassy Woodland.”
Public exhibition included 23 adjoining and nearby landowners that would be affected. There were 27 submissions received by Yass Valley Council, 26 of those raising objections or concerns to the event, while just one was in support of it.
The proposal for the three-day event is described by the hosting organisation as an arts, culture, music and lifestyle event, as well as the running of workshops.
“In accordance with Council’s Community Engagement Strategy, this number of submissions requires a Planning Forum to be held prior to the Development Application being considered by a meeting of Council,” the report to Councillors states.
“The Planning Forum is an opportunity for the organisers, community and stakeholders to make representations to Councillors so that the key issues are better understood in the decision making process. In this instance, there has not been enough time with the proposed date of the event to organise a Planning Forum.”
The proposal of the music event was referred to the Local Emergency Management Committee (LEMC), Local Traffic Services Committee who have not yet provided a response to the matter as both organisations believed the event was going to be postponed.
However, NSW Police has responded to the proposed event, saying that they object, listing the following reasons:
“The likelihood that an overdose will take place vs. the time it will take to transport a patient to a critical care facility is high risk, which cannot be further mitigated.
“The possibility of a natural disaster resulting in an unplanned evacuation vs. the number of people and available resources to facilitate an evacuation equals a high risk, which cannot be further mitigated.
“The current conditions of the local road network and the impact that this would have on any required response by emergency services.”
NSW Police also stated if Council were to support the event, it would need to reach an agreement with the organiser for appropriate user-paying for policing.
“On 14 October 2022 it was suggested to the organisers that they should consider postponing the event due to there being a relatively high level of interest in the Development Application and timelines for complete assessment and determination appeared unworkable.
“Furthermore, it was identified that the condition of that road network due to recent wet weather was of significant immediate concern. NSW Police supported the suggestion to postpone the date to allow proper consideration,” Yass Valley Council stated.
“On 18 October 2022 Council met with the organisers who advised that they were postponing the date. Written confirmation of the postponement was requested from the organiser who then advised on 28 October 2022 that they would have an official answer to Council as soon as possible.”
However, despite the written confirmation by the event organisers that the three-day event would be postponed, the event has still been advertised online this week with tickets still available for sale, raising concerns from Council to the validity of their intentions.
Whilst it is acknowledged that the event organiser and the landowner have undertaken significant planning and work to date, Yass Valley Council believes there is insufficient time available prior to the November 2022 event date for a complete assessment of a Planning Forum, suggesting that 2023 may be a more suitable date to amend their Development Application.
More to come.
Tim Warren
