Music lovers slam Splendour move

The crowd surges to Art Vs Science at Splendour in the Grass 2009.

David Nielsen

FOLLOWING the news that Byron Bay’s Splendour in the Grass will move to Woodford in Queensland, Northern Star readers have overwhelmingly opposed the change of location in our online poll.

At 5pm yesterday 128 people had voted on whether Splendour should stay in Byron Shire.

Eighty-four per cent of voters indicated the festival should remain in the shire, while just 15 per cent said it should not.

There was also some heated debate among readers.

Mangomac, of Middle Pocket, said: “The bottom line is that Splendour has outgrown the Bay anyway and their chosen site at Yelgun/North Ocean Shores is inappropriate on many levels.

“For one it straddles an important wildlife corridor, lies adjacent to a delicate wetland ecosystem and nature reserve; and two, large portions of the site are highly floodprone,” Mangomac said.

Mangomac also said the proposal for the Yelgun site was not for just one Splendour festival a year at all, it is for up to six of these types of festivals a year which would be close to double the entire population of Byron with each festival, and that local infrastructure could not cope with that level of inundation.

Ricco, of Byron Bay, attacked organisers for looking for profit, saying people had the right to fight against what they believed would affect their lifestyle and amenity.

“Just because the park-lands folk splash a little cash around the odd community group does not mean they have the interest of the community at heart,” Ricco said.

“Here is an opportunity for the community of Byron Bay to create and run its own festival utilising the amazing natural and human resources that the area possesses, to benefit all the local community.”

Former Byron resident Rene Thalmann, now of Cooroibah in Queensland, said the move to Woodford was a ‘logical conclusion and welcome in Queensland’.

“It will be so much easier sailing and put full focus on the event,” she said. “Sad for Byron and its many Splendour supporters and beneficiaries, I thoroughly feel with them. But hey, this has to be the final straw to action for a change in Byron.”

Susie, from Boatharbour, criticised the ticket purchasing system for making the event too big for Byron Shire to handle.

“Now we can’t go because of the new online system opening it up completely and unfairly to people from all around Australia. There’s nothing here for locals to look forward to and plan around any more,” she said.

James Lancaster, ofByron Bay, pointed to an ongoing community loss greater than just Splendour. “The brain drain, the jobs drain, the economic drain, the community drain, and now the Splendour drain. Let’s hope we can get them back,” he said.

• Total percentages do not add up to 100pc as online polls do not show fractions of percentages.

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Splendour moves to Queensland