Noise Restrictions Impact Splendour; But Festival A Boon To Local Economy

The site which has hosted popular Aussie music spectacles Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival in recent years is set to implement new changes in regards to noise restrictions for future events according to an annual performance report.

The North Byron Parklands today issued its third annual report which takes in Splendour 2015 as well as Falls' 2014/2015 and one of the key findings is for "more work to be done regarding management of noise for some residents".

As the document reads, the Planning & Assessment Commission (PAC) said of the site's noise management, "The concern about noise impact is not only a concern about residential amenity but also the impacts on fauna and festival-goers."

"Of particular concern is the recommendation to allow loud music to continue until 3am in the morning, given the frequency of these outdoor events in a rural area where the background noise is generally lower than in an urban area."

Given that both festivals which have taken place at the Parklands since 2013 both finish at midnight, the proposed changes may not impact how the events are run too much, however the fact that both provide overnight camping may very well impede on punters' capacity to listen to their own music at camp sites. 

One feature from SITG which will be revised if changes are implemented is to festival favourite, the Tipi Forest.

Though the interactive art and music spectacle has run into the early hours of the morning in past years, it has been confirmed that the changes would require the Tipi Forest to conclude at 2am.

The Commission has imposed that the following steps be taken to maintain noise control at the Parklands:

• Between 11am and midnight, noise level measured at sensitive receivers must not exceed background +10dBA 
• Between midnight and 2am, noise level measured outside the bedroom window(s) at sensitive receivers must not exceed background +5dBA
• All stages must be shut down at midnight
• Amplified music from bars, cafés and dance floor, are permitted to remain until 2am, subject to the stricter noise limit
• All amplified music must cease at 2am

In more positive news, the festivals proved to give a massive financial boost to the local economy. As the report shows, Splendour 2015 and Falls 2014/2015 generated more than $107 million. 

Commenting on the figures, Parklands general manager Mat Morris said, "The great news was that the Byron Shire accounted for $28.1 million of this output or 26%.

"But the really important statistic for this Shire was the creation of 196 Equivalent Full Time (EFT) jobs in 2015 which is significant as it represents 1.79% of the Byron Shire workforce."

Read the latest report in full here.

UPDATE: 

The Music has been advised that the above quotes were from a Yulgan resident in response to the PAC's modification application; Parklands has not applied for events to finish at 3am.

Furthermore, the noise criteria set by the PAC was made in April 2012 and the Parklands has been operating under that criteria ever since.

It has also been advised that the Tipi Forest is in no threat of being removed from future Splendour events as it will continue to finish at 2am.