Amy Hume
MITCHELL Shire Council has refused a planning permit for a three-day music festival at a property in Pyalong.
The festival, called Strawberry Fields, was expected to host more than 2000 party-goers and campers at a West Road farming-zoned property at the end of this month.
The festival has been labelled a “rave” by concerned members of the community and its proposal attracted numerous objectors, including Victoria Police and council’s engineering unit.
The permit was rejected on several grounds, including the proposal not being in compliance with the property’s zoning, not complying with EPA noise restrictions, and not being compatible with rural productivity.
Public safety aspects of the proposal were also questioned.
A recommendation to Council by statutory planning co-ordinator, Sarah Salem stated, “It appears the proposal would result in detrimental amenity impacts,” and “the plans do not satisfactorily demonstrate the applicant’s ability to manage safety and appropriately limit amenity impacts.”
The report stated that the proposal was inconsistent with the State Planning Policy Framework and “exploits the remote location of the land” with “no relation to surrounding rural activities.”
Speaking at last week’s Council meeting, Cr Graeme Coppel said the organisers’ proposal was ill-prepared and lacked professionalism.
“They have failed to discuss with local residents,” he said.
“They are simply looking for an advantage and should not be welcome.”
Cr Des Callaghan agreed. He said none of the event planners have had any contact with police and previous events organised through the same people did not follow regulations.
“There was a similar event held in Licola and they were not welcomed back,” Cr Callaghan said.
“Police are concerned about the narrow road access and there are huge problems with lack of security.”
Cr Ross Lee questioned the type of people the festival would attract and said it would be “fraught with danger if there was drug activity.”
“It’s too risky,” he said.
The proposal attracted one petition with 27 signatories and three objections.
On the motion of Cr Callaghan, council voted unanimously against granting the planning permit.






