BDO, Soundwave "at risk of not coming to WA"

Perth risks losing music festivals such as the Big Day Out and Soundwave if the Claremont council refuses to host them at the showgrounds, the Royal Agricultural Society has warned.
The RAS, which leases out the showgrounds to festival promoters, is already in talks with Big Day Out organisers to return the iconic festival to its original home, but faces strong opposition from the council.
The council revealed yesterday it is seeking legal advice to determine if it can ban the festivals, claiming they are too noisy and result in the suburb being trashed by drunken fans.
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But RAS chief executive Martin Molony said the council was being "elitist", and threatening the future of the festivals in Perth because of a small number of complaints.


Big Day Out promoter Ken West admitted earlier this year that the 2011 Big Day Out had breached the previous noise abatement regulations in Perth “to a minor extent” during the Tool and Rammstien sets. However he was also critical of the introduction of a new noise abatement act in Perth, which had been introduced after the Big Day Out 2012 tickets had gone on sale. According to West the “council and venue were not appreciating the fact that you can’t just keep loading costs on and make it impossible for us to stage a show.”


FasterLouder tried to track Jock Barker down for comment but the mayor wasn’t answering his phone this morning and then refused to answer our questions via email. In a brief reply this afternoon Barker told us that he has “nothing further to add to my comments as already published… Mr Malone [sic] comments do not represent the facts as they stand. If the sound levels were as approved and the antisocial behaviour stopped we would have no problems. Many concerts are held and present no problem.”


However, if Claremont loses the festivals Barker will need to think of some new money spinning ideas for the council. In May last year Perth Now reported that “The City’s revenue from parking fines for music events jumped by more than $100,000 last financial year, including from festivals like Big Day Out, Stereosonic and Good Vibrations Figures reveal Claremont has made more than $171,000 from parking fines issued at the showgrounds so far this year.” According to the report, Claremont council raised a staggering $22,950 just by booking punters attending last year’s Soundwave festival.


Commenting on the fines in an interview with Perth Now last year Barker declared “I’m not embarrassed at all by the amount of money the town pulls in from parking fines at these events. In this day and age, drivers seek to blame everyone else, including the town, for their bad behaviour. We only fine drivers if they are doing something illegal.”