North Byron Parklands - Cultural Events Site

Having a permanent festival site at North Byron Parklands is a great
opportunity for Byron to capitalise on tourism. As a small community,
we do rely on visitors to sustain the hotels, bars, restaurants, cafes
and sightseeing businesses within the shire. The site itself is set in
beautiful countryside, and is conscious of the environmental footprint
that it will be responsible for.

Issues with Parklands' State Significant Development Proposal 1. Control
is supposed to revert to Council after the trial period. The issues
relating to the site need to be kept in Council hands for overseeing
all impacts on local residences, ecology, community, roads, water,
sewage, etc. Having the state of NSW control the festival site is not
consistent with the existing PAC-approved Concept Plan. After the
trial period is over, Byron Council is supposed to grant any further
approvals for holding festivals at the site. Rather than prepare for
this, Parklands got the state to extend their trial period and applied
to become a State Significant Development. These moves have allowed
them to avoid Council control. 2. Local Council and community should
be deciding what happens in our Shire. If this proposal is approved,
the local community and its elected officials will again have been
pushed aside, as they were by the (now discredited) Part 3A approval
in 2012. The state will be in charge but will not be accountable to
local residents. Byron and Tweed Councils will have no say. The DOP
will continue "overseeing" the development from Sydney but will simply
trust Parklands to manage everything. This is not right and not fair.
Parklands cannot be trusted to be impartial. Byron Council, in
consultation with local residents and business owners, should be
determining the shire's destiny--not the state government. 3. Byron
Shire is overloaded with tourists. Permanent approval of this
development is not in the best interests of the shire because it will
bring increasing numbers of tourists to the area. Byron's tourism
industry needs to be balanced with enterprises that are not dependent
on tourism. 4. Parklands wants permanent approval, but they don't need
it. The festivals have been operating profitably under a conditional
trial approval for five years and operated for many years before that
with year-to-year approvals from Council. If Parklands receives any
further approval from the state, it should be conditional on annual
reviews, and it should have to meet specific, rigorous conditions that
Byron and Tweed Councils have set in consultation with local
residents. 5. DOP oversight of the trial has been lax. Parklands
claims their compliance with consent conditions has been close to
100%, but locals have documented close to 100 breaches and other
irregularities since trial approval was granted. The DOP has issued
only a few Penalty Infringement Notices (fines) and Official Cautions
(no fines) and does not even appear to have an accurate record of
breaches and irregularities. (The DOP has not yet provided clear and
complete information about breaches.) If the state remains in charge,
oversight and enforcement will continue to be lax and inadequate. 6.
Much unpredictability remains. Recurring issues include noise,
traffic, impacts on the environment, impacts on local infrastructure
(roads, water, sewer systems) and impacts on residential amenity and
health. Fire risks continue to be great, especially since the
festivals have numerous bonfires and are located in a fire-prone area.
Problems have arisen repeatedly throughout the trial, many
unpredictable, e.g., the on-site traffic nightmares at Splendour 2016,
recurring outbreaks of "festival flu", unpredictable noise disturbance
throughout the area, and repeated illegal use of fireworks on the
site. Flooding on the low-lying camping and car-park areas is always a
possiblity. Parklands may claim that all the problems have been
identified and will easily be mitigated, but that's pie-in-the-sky
thinking. Much unpredictability remains. We can't be sure what mess or
disaster might develop because of the festivals; thus annual
monitoring needs to continue. 7. The proposed sewage management raises
many concerns. Sewage is to be buried or sprayed on the Parklands
site, which straddles two water catchments. Both tactics carry risks
of contamination of ground water and surface water that will affect
nearby residential areas and the Nature Reserve. On-site land
formations and frequent site flooding both present major challenges to
the planned disposal of effluent on site. Also, no provision is made
for dealing with inorganic matter in the waste stream, e.g., sanitary
products, plastics, etc., or for treating chemicals that become part
of the waste stream, e.g., prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs,
and other unmetabolised chemicals. And it's not clear if UV light or
chlorine will be used to disinfect the waste and if the process will
be fully effective. Parklands says they will implement their sewage
treatment plans "progressively as budget allows" although a complete
sewage treatment system was supposed to be in place by the end of
2017. So they're not yet prepared to handle the sewage they generate.
What they can't treat on site will have to be trucked to overloaded
sewage treatment plants in Byron Shire or elsewhere. This is
irresponsible management. 8. Independent monitoring of key variables
has not been done. To demonstrate their performance on key variables,
Parklands hires consultants to monitor things and prepare reports.
Parklands then sends the reports to the DOP for review. No independent
monitoring has been done at any time during the trial. Parklands'
self-monitoring and self-reporting remains a major issue and will
continue to be a major issue if this proposal is approved. 9. An
independent cost-benefit analysis has not been done. No independent
analysis has been done that objectively weighs the purported benefits
of the festivals against the costs to the community. The Economic
Benefits Report, Appendix W in the proposal, was generated by a
Parklands-paid consultant. The report is presented "without the
assumption of a duty of care to any other person other than the client
[Parklands]" and the report further cautions any third party from
"using or relying on the facts, content, opinions or subject matter"
in the report. Experts in assessing economic costs and benefits have
described the report as incomplete, inaccurate, and misleading. 10.
The proposed increases of site usage are significant. The proposed
increase in festival use of the site is far from the "few days a year"
that Parklands originally argued was their aim. Parklands proposes two
large, five-day events and three medium-sized, one-day events every
year. Each of these will require 35 days of preparation and
dismantling, bringing the total site usage time to 188 working days or
52% of the year's 365 days. And that does not include either the
weekend (non-working) days associated with event set-up and
dismantling and does not include the days devoted to "small" and
"minor" events. If this proposal is approved, they will be able to get
ongoing modifications to increase the numbers of days and the daily
attendance still further. Their stated aim of 50,000 attendees per day
has to be seen as only the beginning. In early discussions one of the
Parklands organisers was heard to say they intended to match
Glastonbury Festival, which has 200,000 attendees. 11. The proposed
conference centre is questionable. The originally-envisioned centre
called for accommodations for 60 people. That has now doubled to a
proposed total capacity of 180 with accommodations for 120. These
facilities are to be used by staff during festivals and by paying
guests at other times. This hotel/event centre is to be located in a
forested area of the site where koalas have been sighted, most
recently in 2016. 12. Live Nation will not be accountable to Council
and the local community. The two major festivals staged on the site
are 51% owned by Live Nation, an American entertainment conglomerate.
Permanent approval of this proposal will put profits generated at
Parklands into the hands of that conglomerate, an entity that is not
answerable to elected officials or local residents. 13. Minimal funds
for local Council; minimal benefits for the shire's north. If this
proposal is approved, Parklands will pay $420,000 in Section 94
contributions. They suggest this can be used for improving the Byron
Tourist Information Centre, redeveloping public toilets (presumably in
Byron), additional beach showers and beach access improvement
(presumably in Byron), public art, and "civic improvements" such as
benches, footpaths, landscaping, and signage. That will be their
contribution to bringing this massive development to the north of the
shire--a tiny fraction of the profits that each festival takes in and
not nearly enough to counteract the wear and tear on the north of the
shire. Locals question the motive for Parklands offering grants to
needy community groups, which is seen as a form of pay-off for
accepting the unwanted festival site. 14. Parklands' investment is
dwarfed by area homeowners' investments. Parklands claims that their
intention to invest $30 million in the site makes them a
state-significant development. But a conservative estimate of the
combined value of just the residential property in Ocean Shores North,
South Golden Beach, New Brighton, Ocean Shores, and Brunswick Heads is
$3 billion, as a local realtor has said. That $3 billion is surely
more state significant than the $30 million Parklands plans to invest
in festival-site infrastructure such as concrete platforms and wider
roads. 15. The environment is the true state-significant asset in this
part of the state. Billinudgel Nature Reserve and Marshalls Ridge
Wildlife Corridor, into which NSW has invested millions of dollars
over decades, are the most state significant assets in the north of
Byron Shire. Approval of this proposal will permanently change the
nature of this ecologically-significant area--for the worse. The state
should not have been approved festivals at Parklands to begin with.
They now have a chance to correct that earlier mistake. Even within
the original DAs, lists of rare, threatened and endangered flora and
fauna are mentioned as being present, and then are summarily dismissed
with a wave of "no significant impact" on them.

I fully support this application. I strongly believe that a permanent
arrangement will bring many benefits to the area, and to the states.
For example jobs, tourism, and arts. As a regular punter of the
Splendour and Falls festivals, I have reaped many of these benefits,
and have enjoyed holidaying and spending time in Yelgun, Byron, and
surrounding towns for several days every year, with family and friends
from all over the country. I can't think of a better site and of a
more responsible company to continue to do their great work.

For transparency purposes I wish to advise that I am an employee of the
proponent. I am the General Manager of Parklands and am an
environmental scientist with over 25 years experience. I have worked
on this project since July 2007 and in that time I have watched the
organisation develop, test, modify and report on a range of systems
and procedures to manage its externalities. Systems specifically
targeted at noise, traffic, illegal camping and parking and litter
have proved to be incredibly effective in minimising impacts on the
surrounding community. This is clearly evidenced in the significant
reduction in calls to Parkland's Community Hotline. In fact, it is
fair to say that the majority of the northern rivers businesses and
residents support Parklands and the world-class events it hosts due to
the massive economic injection the venue brings to this regional
economy. Aside from the tens of millions of dollars which flow to
local businesses, the number of full-time equivalent jobs currently
represents more than 2% of the entire Byron Shire workforce.

With respect to the environmental performance of the venue, based on
the unprecedented levels of flora and fauna surveys undertaken, it can
be categorically stated that Parklands is having a significant
positive impact on the environment. Setting aside the 24,000 trees
planted to date the survey evidence emphatically and overwhelmingly
shows that fauna numbers, both in terms of species diversity and
actual species numbers have increased over the trial period. This is
due in part to the fact that the site is rested for more than 300 days
each and every year. Any other activity on this site, be it
residential or commercial could not possibly provide such benefits to
the environment.

In summary Parklands has demonstrated a range of positive outcomes for
the environment, the community and the economy. On this basis, the
application for permanency must be approved. On a merit based basis,
the only choice available to the Commissioners is to approval the
application. Thank you. While directly employed by North Byron
Parklands I write this submission as an individual. My sole income is
derived from full time employment gained from this employer. I have
worked with this organisation for 10 and a half years during which
time I have witnessed this company provide a multitude of benefits
across to a range of stakeholders covering social, environmental and
economic considerations. As an environmental scientist I have a keen
interest in protecting and preserving the 660 acres that makes up
Parklands. It is an undisputed fact that the condition of the site has
been significantly improved through a range of environmental programs
including tree planting, weed removal and habitat creation such as
next boxes and the like. The extensive flora and fauna monitoring
undertaken across all events held to date, in addition to the biennial
flora and fauna and the Koala survey shows that the limited days of
activity at the site is not having a significant impact on the
environment. In fact, more species and species numbers have been
recorded over time. This site acts like an adjunct to the Billinudgel
Nature Reserve when not in use. Events are professionally managed with
a range of detailed processes and systems employed covering a wide
variety of important functions including traffic, floods, bushfire,
emergency evacuation, etc. To date 10 events have been held at the
venue and all of been conducted in a professionally and highly
compliant manner. Community impacts are considered in detail and a
range of mitigation measures are put in place such as neighbour
agreements, complimentary tickets to close proximity residents
(approximately 400 tickets), an offsite litter response team, a
community manager and community advocate to liaise with residents, a
community hotline to register issues and concerns and a good working
relationship with council rangers and police in relation to matters
such as illegal parking, etc All in all, the positive benefits far
outweigh any negative externalities. For these reasons and also for
the ability to continue to provide for my family I urge the state
government to approve this application. Mat Morris

The Byron Community Centre was one of the earliest recipients of the
Splendour's Community Grants Scheme nearly 9 years ago. The grant
enabled the centre to create a desperately needed part time position,
and employ a dedicated Volunteer Coordinator. I was employed for this
position and have been with the organisation ever since. As a result
of this seed-funding to employ a Volunteer Coordinator, the centre's
capacity to engage and respond meaningfully with the community has
increased exponentially. Skilled volunteers who are managed within by
centre's volunteer program now run a plethora of projects and programs
to enhance community experience for: the homeless, low income, ageing,
unemployed, at risk, disabled, disadvantaged, artists and creatives,
small businesses, volunteer organisations around the shire, and of
course the volunteers themselves who are enabled to perform meaningful
work to the the level of their skill and willingness. Without the
ongoing support of Falls Festival each year, the immensely successful
New Year's Eve celebrations, Soul St would not be possible. This event
came about from a number of forums and community consultation hosted
by the centre around safety in Byron Bay during NYE. Falls Festival
has responded responsibly to the call of the community to create a
safe and family friendly event in town. I know many, many local
residents who are employed part time by the festivals in all areas
from unskilled labour to creatives, to highly skilled technicians and
IT specialists. This part time work comes at traditionally low times
in employment and so is of benefit to many families in the area who
depend on the yearly events I know many, many local residents who
depend on festival goers, in need of accomodation for the duration of
the festival, to help pay the rent or rates in Byron Shire. As manager
of the Community, Artisan and Beachside Markets we as an organisation
are aware of many, many local small businesses in the form of market
stallholders who depend upon the festivals as a source of income each
year. I have met many young people who, having volunteered for the
first time in their lives in exchange for festival tickets, now have
the ethos and understanding of the concept of volunteering and pursue
it in other organisations and areas of work to the benefit of our
community. I understand that many community organisations (Brunswick
Heads Scouts, Liberation Larder etc) even benefit from what is left
behind on the camping sites and festival stalls, having the
opportunity to "scavenge" reusable items for use within their program
or for their clients or for fundraising possibilities. The festival
industry is a good fit for Byron Bay. The festivals promote culture,
gatherings of like-minds, celebration, tolerance and acceptance...I
cannot think of another industry that has so much potential for
connection. The Byron Community Centre supports the North Byron
Parklands application.

To Whom it may concern, I am writing in support of the North Byron
Parklands Cultural Events Site. Most creative industries will
contribute to Australian culture and economy if allowed. This site
provides the means to allow an important Australian cultural medium -
music- to thrive and grow. It provides a catalyst for other creative
industries including the visual arts, theatre and film. And it
provides business opportunities for caterers and service providers.
Here young people can develop and reinforce their communities and have
fun, It does all this out of earshot of residential areas. The
operation of North Byron Parklands so far has been exemplary for its
environmental management with sensitive water management, tree
planting and protection and establishment of native habitat. I urge
the NSW Government to approve this application

Hi I'am a local resident and home owner in South Golden Beach, one of the
closet built-up areas to this site. I think its absolutely incredible
that we have the opportunity to have music events, showcasing some of
the best talent from all around the world as well as homegrown, in our
own backyard. The Byron Shire is built of the surfing and music
culture, which at its roots promotes happiness, enjoyment and just a
good way of making the most of life. I have spent my life so far,
since I was old enough, going to gigs and festivals. Some of my most
enjoyable memories, so far, have been at music festivals surrounded by
my friends and people just enjoying life. I would not trade these
memories for any thing, not even Olympic gold. I think it is honestly
selfish for us locals to try and stop these festivals from happening.
They provide so much enjoyment for so many people, both locally and
around Australia, let alone the boost to the local economy it
provides. I feel like Australia is becoming a negative and whingy
culture that now only focuses on the negatives of life and never looks
at the positives anymore. I think this proposal has more positives
that negatives for our area.

I support the Development Application for the following reasons: - North
Byron Parklands and events provides local employment; - I appreciate
having access to world class music and cultural events; - My children
will also benefit from the above; and - I appreciate the
contributions, both personal and financial, to my local community by
those involved with North Byron Parklands.

Firstly I am dumbfounded that this application has reached this point as
North Byron Parklands has not met any of their trial conditions since
Day 1. Whether it be sound, traffic congestion, on-site sewerage, or
crowd limits. I have been involved in fighting this development from
the initial stages when I resided in Yelgun and when we were informed
from one of the past owners of the site that they would get anything
they wanted through the NSW government, I was and still am convinced
that this whole process stinks of corruption and should be referred to
ICAC. We as residents, am sick and tired of gridlocked roads, crowded
streets, illegal camping with the stench of urine and human faeces
(which lingers longer than the conclusion date of the festivals) as
well as a massive increase of crime during the festival dates. North
Byron Parklands has done nothing to assist our town in solving the
abovementioned problems apart from throwing a few donations to our
well meaning clubs & charities in their pathetic attempts to buy
influence in the area. Their ongoing contempt for the problems that
their actions cause to the residents of the area shows no bounds or
concern. The owners have lied through their teeth since the planning
stages. I am gob smacked why the government planning department
prostitutes themselves to a group of gargantuan gluttons of greed
whose massive profits are nothing more than blood money. Finally, I
would request that any submissions received in favour of this
proposal, by people who do not reside in the area and do not have to
pay the penalties of the residents, be dismissed as irrelevant.

I have been employed by North Byron Parklands as community manager since
the first event in 2013. In my capacity of community manager I have
been responsible to liaise with the immediate neighbours and wider
community, responding to concerns of traffic, litter and illegal
camping, as well as being available to listen and pass on residents
concerns to the event organisers. In that time I have experienced a
shift in community attitudes toward events held at Parkland. The
general air is of a far more positive one than from the first event. I
have been personally congratulated on many occasions for the efforts
that the event teams have made to solve any issues that have occurred.
The general comment I get is that the events are vital to the local
economy in the Northern area of the Byron Shire as well as being
culturally significant to our Youth. The events held at North Byron
Parklands bring a welcome boost to employment and the general economy
to the Northern area of the Byron Shire, the Southern Part of the
Tweed and, beyond. I personally know a lot of youth who are getting
paid work from the Festivals; which, given the high level of youth
unemployment', is fantastic! Some youth in the area are now travelling
to other events, with the skills they have learnt from Splendour in
the Grass and Falls Festival. They know have a chance. Events held at
North Byron Parklands employ me, collectively, full time for
approximately 13 week of the year. It is difficult to get full time
employment in this region. Many of us have several jobs in order to
support the family. NBP plays a very important part for me to be able
to put food on the table and pay the rent. I support totally. Events
held at North Byron Parklands have employed my services for each event
for the last 5 years. The wages from theses events are a big part of
my yearly income. Living in the Byron Shire, many residents have many
different jobs throughout-the year in order to survive. Splendour and
Falls are essential to me be able to support my Family.

North Byron Parklands is an important venue that needs to remain for the
benefit of thousands of punters who enjoy attending the festivals held
there, as well as the many jobs that these festivals provide for the
local community and the money the festivals bring to the local
economies.

Splendour in the Grass is absolutely vital to the cultural eco-system of
the Byron Shire. I have lived in the Shire for 5 years, and every year
I witness the absolute joy that the festival brings to the local
economy (hotels, restaurants, shops) as well as to those attending the
festival. I also have worked for Splendour in the Craft - which is one
of the most popular side attractions at the festival. Festival goers
can make arts and crafts during the day for free - including knitting,
sewing, and making bags from pillowcases to name a few. The workshops
are packed (lines out the door) and on many occasions I have heard
festival goers refer to it as "life changing" to be able to learn a
new skill. Splendour seasonally employs many people from the creative
industry of Northern NSW. The value of this can't be overstated in a
region where employment opportunities, especially for young people are
hard to come by, I absolutely support this project.

Submission Against Proposed North Byron Parklands Developments Byron
Shire already accommodates 2 million tourists per year. This
development in seeking to increase the participants to 50,000 per day
for the duration, almost trebles the population of the shire which
draws upon our already strained services, amenities and resources.
That's a quarter of a million more tourists per festival. This
development therefore compounds exponentially the social and
environmental impact of tourists in our Shire. The effect on going
about our daily lives cannot be exaggerated. Increase in traffic
affects our ability to get to and from work, to and from school, our
ability to park and shop, attend appointments and classes, even
visiting. Our roads are crumbling from the number of cars and trucks
they have to deal with. I have city friends who have commented that
they feel like they are in a third world country when they drive
around here. The load on our water and sewer systems is way more than
they were built to take. I remember one year reading with sadness just
how much of Council's budget was spent on fixing the main public
toilet in Byron Bay during a single holiday period. It was enough to
fund a youth support programme. Our rubbish collection services are
overloaded and litter abounds. The cost of repair to the damage and
degradation of these basic amenities and services is paid for by the
ratepayers with increases to rates year upon year. Yet the
contributions paid to Council by the applicants is only $420,000 -
this is a tiny amount of the profits made by North Byron Parklands.
This in no way compensates for the years of degradation to roads and
services already, let alone the continuing damage from the massive
increase in use being proposed here. These events do not in any way
benefit the residents here. Some businesses profit, but most of the
money will end up offshore in the hands of the Live Nation
conglomerate who own 51% of North Byron Parklands. These people have
no concern and take no responsibility for the degradation of services
and the destruction of the environment. If they did, their application
would be more considerate and we would be fairly compensated.
Environmental damage is I observe, not always willful (perhaps
ignorant) but the result of the massive overuse of the area. Now
coming to the end of yet another holiday season which followed upon
yet another festival, I am saddened to see the amount of damage to
both bushland and beaches brought about by people not sticking to
designated paths and just crashing through the bush or sliding down
the sand dunes. There was one tree on Torakina beach, an old Banksia,
and we are about to lose it. And of course there's the rubbish -the
plastic lids and straws and bottles and wrappers going straight into
our oceans. With increase upon increase in numbers how can we manage
this danger to both wildlife and sea life. Noise is still an issue
from the venue in spite of the claims of management. When I rang to
complain that I could hear at the other end of Ocean Shores I was
simply told the wind was coming from another direction and it couldn't
possibly be coming from them! And has anybody done a study on the
impact on the wildlife? I cannot begin to imagine what the damage is
to them, I can only guess that it will be permanent. Noise is also an
issue for residents from the increasing number of holiday lets.
Increase in the number of festival days is an increase in the number
of sleepless nights. Only our local Council can monitor and resolve
difficulties arising from this venue. When the trial is over, control
should revert to our local government authority. North Byron Parklands
is asking to extend the trial period and for this site to be
considered of `state significance' so that they will no longer be
accountable to the community they have burdened. In doing this, the
applicants demonstrate a blatant disregard for due process for the
local community by seeking to put control in the hands of the state
government and not where it belongs here within region. This is
neither right nor fair nor responsible and I call upon you to
recognise this and reject it outright. Submission Against Proposed
North Byron Parklands Developments Byron Shire already accommodates 2
million tourists per year. This development in seeking to increase the
participants to 50,000 per day for the duration, almost trebles the
population of the shire which draws upon our already strained
services, amenities and resources. That's a quarter of a million more
tourists per festival. This development therefore compounds
exponentially the social and environmental impact of tourists in our
Shire. The effect on going about our daily lives cannot be
exaggerated. Increase in traffic affects our ability to get to and
from work, to and from school, our ability to park and shop, attend
appointments and classes, even visiting. Our roads are crumbling from
the number of cars and trucks they have to deal with. I have city
friends who have commented they feel like they are in a third world
country when they drive around here. The load on our water and sewer
systems is way more than they were built to take. I remember one year
reading with sadness just how much of Council's budget was spent on
fixing the main public toilet in Byron Bay during a single holiday
period. It was enough to fund a youth support programme. Our rubbish
collection services are overloaded and litter abounds. The cost of
repair to the damage and degradation of these basic amenities and
services is paid for by the ratepayers with increases to rates year
upon year. Yet the contributions paid to Council by the applicants is
only $420,000 - this is a tiny amount of the profits made by North
Byron Parklands. This in no way compensates for the years of
degradation to roads and services already, let alone the continuing
damage from the massive increase in use being proposed here. These
events do not in any way benefit the residents here. Some businesses
profit, but most of the money will end up offshore in the hands of the
Live Nation conglomerate who own 51% of North Byron Parklands. These
people have no concern and take no responsibility for the degradation
of services and the destruction of the environment. If they did we
would be fairly compensated. Environmental damage is I observe, not
always wilful but the result of the massive overuse of the area. Now
coming to the end of yet another holiday season which followed upon
yet another festival, I am saddened to see the amount of damage to
both bushland and beaches brought about by people not sticking to
designated paths and just crashing through the bush or sliding down
the sand dunes. And of course there's the rubbish -the plastic lids
and straws and bottles and wrappers going straight into our oceans.
With increase upon increase in numbers how can we manage this danger
to both wildlife and sea life. Noise is still an issue from the venue
in spite of the claims of management. When I rang to complain that I
could hear at the other end of the shire I was simply told the wind
was coming from another direction and it couldn't possibly be coming
from them! And has anybody done a study on the impact on the wildlife?
I cannot begin to imagine what the damage is to them, I can only guess
that it will be permanent. Noise is also an issue for residents from
the increasing number of holiday lets. Increase in the number of
festival days is an increase in the number of sleepless nights. Only
our local Council can monitor and resolve difficulties arising from
this venue. When the trial is control should revert to our local
government authority. North Byron Parklands is asking to extend the
trial period and for this site to be considered of `state
significance' so that they will no longer be accountable to the
community they have burdened. In doing this, the applicants
demonstrate a blatant disregard for due process for the local
community by seeking to put control in the hands of the state
government and not where it belongs here within region. This is
neither right nor fair nor responsible and I call upon you to
recognise this and reject it outright. Submission Against Proposed
North Byron Parklands Developments Byron Shire already accommodates 2
million tourists per year. This development in seeking to increase the
participants to 50,000 per day for the duration, almost trebles the
population of the shire which draws upon our already strained
services, amenities and resources. That's a quarter of a million more
tourists per festival. This development therefore compounds
exponentially the social and environmental impact of tourists in our
Shire. The effect on going about our daily lives cannot be
exaggerated. Increase in traffic affects our ability to get to and
from work, to and from school, our ability to park and shop, attend
appointments and classes, even visiting. Our roads are crumbling from
the number of cars and trucks they have to deal with. I have city
friends who have commented they feel like they are in a third world
country when they drive around here. The load on our water and sewer
systems is way more than they were built to take. I remember one year
reading with sadness just how much of Council's budget was spent on
fixing the main public toilet in Byron Bay during a single holiday
period. It was enough to fund a youth support programme. Our rubbish
collection services are overloaded and litter abounds. The cost of
repair to the damage and degradation of these basic amenities and
services is paid for by the ratepayers with increases to rates year
upon year. Yet the contributions paid to Council by the applicants is
only $420,000 - this is a tiny amount of the profits made by North
Byron Parklands. This in no way compensates for the years of
degradation to roads and services already, let alone the continuing
damage from the massive increase in use being proposed here. These
events do not in any way benefit the residents here. Some businesses
profit, but most of the money will end up offshore in the hands of the
Live Nation conglomerate who own 51% of North Byron Parklands. These
people have no concern and take no responsibility for the degradation
of services and the destruction of the environment. If they did we
would be fairly compensated. Environmental damage is I observe, not
always wilful but the result of the massive overuse of the area. Now
coming to the end of yet another holiday season which followed upon
yet another festival, I am saddened to see the amount of damage to
both bushland and beaches brought about by people not sticking to
designated paths and just crashing through the bush or sliding down
the sand dunes. And of course there's the rubbish -the plastic lids
and straws and bottles and wrappers going straight into our oceans.
With increase upon increase in numbers how can we manage this danger
to both wildlife and sea life. Noise is still an issue from the venue
in spite of the claims of management. When I rang to complain that I
could hear at the other end of the shire I was simply told the wind
was coming from another direction and it couldn't possibly be coming
from them! And has anybody done a study on the impact on the wildlife?
I cannot begin to imagine what the damage is to them, I can only guess
that it will be permanent. Noise is also an issue for residents from
the increasing number of holiday lets. Increase in the number of
festival days is an increase in the number of sleepless nights. Only
our local Council can monitor and resolve difficulties arising from
this venue. When the trial is control should revert to our local
government authority. North Byron Parklands is asking to extend the
trial period and for this site to be considered of `state
significance' so that they will no longer be accountable to the
community they have burdened. In doing this, the applicants
demonstrate a blatant disregard for due process for the local
community by seeking to put control in the hands of the state
government and not where it belongs here within region. This is
neither right nor fair nor responsible and I call upon you to
recognise this and reject it outright.

Splendour and Falls are part of the culture of Northern New South Wales
and have been so important in the lives of every who attends these
events!! They bring so much joy to the area and it has a huge positive
impact within the community! I've been attending falls since it
started at the parklands and i've never ever in my life been to a
better festival site than the parklands. They're immensely beautiful
and compliment so well the events held there. The development would
mean SO much to our community- for business, music scene, youths and
our history. I live here it's become apart of our culture and if it
moved we would have two of the biggest events missing from our
community.

I have travelled the globe, visiting music and cultural festivals in many
different countries. Splendour in the grass is still my favourite
festival of all. Celebrating What I love most about my home country
and the place where I grew up, with my closest family and friends. The
festival as a whole is perfect in my eyes. It's the perfect setting
and such a magical, enchanting place for likeminded people to come
together and celebrate what they love. Be it music, art, culture,
fashion, partying, the environment or the community and way of life.
These grounds have created and been such a massive part of 100's of
1000's of people's lives. I've never experienced a festival or
festivals that have wanted to co-incide, contribute and continue with
the community in which they have established themselves. My favourite
life experiences ever have come from the grounds on which splendour
and falls festivals are held every year and I hope that many more get
to experience as I have in the future.

To whom it may concern, COREM was a beneficiary of a grant through
Splendour in the Grass Grants Scheme. We acknowledge the efforts SITG
goes to support the community in ways such as this. Over the years the
festival has been at yelgun, this has generated enough income so that
over $250,000 has been donated to local community initiatives. This is
a fantastic outcome. We understand there is a balance to ensure that
the events site is managed appropriately so it can be an important
benefit to our local culture and economy, with out significant
negative impacts to our community. We trust this right balance can be
found so that all the great things the festival site can offer will
keep supporting our region.

I oppose the approval of this development. I am a resident of Yelgun. My
family and I are directly affected by events held at the North Byron
Parklands. Our access to the only road in and out of Yelgun is
restricted not only on the days of operation but in the lead up and
also post events. During festivals there has been a security
checkpoint at the end of our road with car passes given to residents
(which is stressful in itself making sure we get the car passes on
time), this has been somewhat successful in slowing down the number of
festival goers coming into our road but has not completely stopped the
illegal campers and has become more lax during recent festivals. A
combination of this checkpoint and the extremely large volume of
traffic on our only access road (Tweed Valley Way) makes it awkward
and inconvenient to go about our daily business including going out to
work, running businesses, going to the shops, getting to and from
school. This also impacts our friends and family as it makes it
inconvenient and unpleasant to visit us during festival periods. In
addition to us, many other small businesses (mostly farms) operate out
of Yelgun. They are not high traffic operations but many rely on
getting livestock, produce and workers in and out of the valley.
During SITG there is no safe place for us to meet our regular school
bus on Tweed Valley Way, which requires us to battle through the
traffic to collect children directly from school. We already have very
limited mobile reception. Such a huge number of people in a normally
sparsely populated area puts a big strain on our telecommunications.
As the local mobile towers struggle to keep up with the high volume of
calls, texts and mobile data it becomes nearly impossible to get calls
and texts through, limiting both our business and personal
communications. The communications problem also leads to the question
of what would happen in an emergency situation. In our own personal
emergency we would struggle to get a call through and to get help in.
In a larger emergency situation we would likely be forgotten or
blocked from evacuation by the extreme volume of patrons trying to
exit the NBP site. These situations have been looked at by our police
and emergency services and the outcomes look far from ideal for even
the current numbers for the site. Noise pollution is an ongoing issue,
with parklands operating at levels far above the levels set by the NSW
Industrial Noise Policy. NBP insistence that they cannot keep to the
accepted policy levels shows they are in the wrong location to operate
music festivals. My more general concerns as part of this community
are: With 10's of thousands of people in our normally very small
community it becomes hard to function normally on a day-to-day basis.
This includes having to leave earlier to get to work in case of
increased traffic, difficulty finding car parking in town and
therefore getting in to shops for every day supplies or even accessing
places like parks and libraries. Being involved in several local
businesses that are affected by the influx of festival goers it is
apparent that it does not actually benefit them. The festivals try to
retain as many dollars as possible within their gates, but any that
makes it through to the local towns actually creates increased costs
for shop owners to deal with. The inundation of people and the
difficulties of trying to produce increased volume at low price points
as well as losing their regular local customers do not work out
financially. While extra police and emergency services are brought in
for the event there is still a large overflow of patrons into the
surrounding townships which then puts a strain on our local police
force and emergency services. Not only is this a waste of taxpayer
dollars, it diverts our local resources so services are tied up in
town dealing with drunk teenagers and misdemeanours when those
services may be required by residents in other parts of the shire.
There is extra wear and tear on our roads and public amenities,
putting a large strain on council resources in a shire with an already
very low ratepayer to visitor ratio. The NBP site is in one of the
last remaining wildlife corridors from the ocean to the mountains in
this area. There are several pockets of forest in and around the site
that are home to a large variety of native wildlife. The noise
pollution that these animals have to deal with is very disruptive to
their feeding, sleeping and movement. There is also a large amount of
pollution coming from the site into these areas. The acres and acres
of discarded camping gear and general rubbish may be (mostly) cleaned
up after each festival but the many thousands of smaller bits of
rubbish that blow into the surrounding bushland and millions of pieces
of microplastic (eg glitter) cannot be cleaned up by a few work teams
and will stay in our environment and wash out to sea for decades to
come. This isn't even considering the extra rubbish discarded on
roadsides and beaches in the surrounding towns as the revellers travel
around nearby, carelessly discarding their rubbish wherever they like.
The original approval for the 5 year trial specified that after that
period control would revert to Byron Shire Council. The Byron shire
council has a much better chance of understanding the needs of our
community and what our local resources can cope with re decisions on
further festival numbers, capacity and developments. Any increase to
the number of patrons or events on the site will exacerbate the above
problems. I implore you to consider the local residents and
communities and not allow this development to change the nature of our
local community NBP and SITG have called out to their customers to
submit in favour of this proposal with little or no background
information on the impact on local residents, communities and
wildlife, as a resident of the area immediately surrounding the site
in question I would hope that my concerns of direct impact on our
lives will be weighted accordingly and given greater consideration
than those of the people who only come once or twice a year.

I have worked on the site for over 10 years. My job is to undertake the
ecological restoration works. This has seen over 25000 trees planted
and many hectares of forest is now under active management to control
environmental weeds. The improvement from a working cattle and cane
farm to now a cultural events site has been remarkably positive. There
is much more areas of habitat that has been created to enhance the
regionally significant wildlife corridor and also support the species
that live on the site. The continued restoration works that are
proposed will see a net positive environment benefit for the local
flora and fauna.

Thank you for considering my views. I oppose the proposal to give the
Yelgun music festivals permanent approval. My family and I have lived
in South Golden Beach for over 20 years. We are in close proximity to
the major music festivals site. We chose to live here due to the
peaceful rural coastal village environment. We discovered that we were
living in the locality of a unique, diverse and significantly
important natural environment that includes over 50 threatened species
and one of the very last wildlife corridor links between the
hinterland and the coast. These lifestyle and environment qualities
have been heavily impacted by the imposition of the festivals during
the 5year trial period plus its extension. We are devastated that the
government has allowed these festivals to continue to date despite the
festivals breaking their conditions of consent many times. Background
Noise levels have increased many fold and particularly when their is
either no breeze or any level of breeze blowing in our direction. It
is a nonsense argument to say that native wildlife are not majorly
affected by these noise levels. No reasonable person would believe
that the wildlife are not scared away or cowering in fright if they
can't escape. Anedotal evidence that we hear is that local residents
who live kilometres from the site observe unusual wildlife movements
through their locality when the festival operate. These residents know
that these are displaced animals who are now impacting on the habitats
of other pre-existing wildlife homes. There is a chain of wildlife
impacts for many kilometres around the site and no amount of so-called
fauna studies can change what we locals observe and know. That these
studies deny this impact is deplorable and unscientific. Similarly,
the impacts of local residents is downplayed by the so-called
'studies' of the impacts of noise on our peaceful ambience. Then there
is the imposition of a massive increase in people numbers around here
when more people arrive for the festivals than the total number of
local resident of Brunswick Heads, Ocean Shores plus the local
villages within 10 kilometres of the site. All our amenities, services
and infrastructure are stretched well beyond their limits. We feel
trapped in our house and unwilling to venture into the chaotic
locality that it becomes. We are not opposed to festivals per se. But
we are opposed to such a massive imposition on our locality. The
festivals do not need to be located here as there is already another
major music festival site not 10 kilometres away (Blues fest site). It
makes no sense to use the Yelgun site. In reality the festivals at
both these sites should be located somewhere like Casino on degraded
lands well away from residential localities. Then significant land
rehabilitation could occur. Leave these environmental significant
places alone! Give us back our rural residential peace!

General comments: I positively support the Development Application. It
provides a safe, well maintained,well managed site Continuous
improvement appears to occur Letterbox drops to all residents in my
area are provided well in advance of each event outlining arrangements
and contact details A huge boost to local businesses and other parts
of Byron Shire during the event periods Fantastic tourism advantages
to this area North Byron Shire Park-lands has virtually put the
northern areas of Byron Shire on the map and I believe has had a
positive effect with Byron Shire Council's upkeep of the area. . As an
older person, I look forward to smaller diverse events occurring at
the venue, aimed at all ages of the population. TRAFFIC CONCERN There
is one suggestion I would like to submit regarding the T-intersection
of Brunswick Valley Way and Shara Boulevarde, North Ocean Shores. This
intersection is becoming increasingly dangerous to turn right (north)
out of Shara Boulevarde and especially so during event periods. The
speed limit of 80kph needs to be reduced on either side of this
intersection to 50kph or 60kph. IDEALLY A ROUNDABOUT WOULD BE BEST
SOLUTION. Even though speed limit is 80kph, traffic travelling south
from Yelgun along Brunswick Valley Way often travels at increased
speeds coming down the hill approaching Shara Boulevarde intersection
and there is only a short vision or awareness span that the
intersection is actually right there (apart from signage). I have
experienced and witnessed near accidents and close encounters at that
intersection. LETS HELP SAVE LIVES! Thank you for the opportunity to
submit my positive support and my concerns about Brunswick Valley
Way/Shara Boulevarde intersection.