A contested council vote has cleared a major hurdle toward enabling a weekend-long music festival for up to 1500 patrons to go ahead at Elphinstone later this year.
The applicants for the planned event – Backyard Fest – were seeking Mount Alexander Shire Council planning permit approval to enable the festival to take place over November 12-14 at 100 Allendale Road, Elphinstone on land within the farming zone and subject to an environmental significance overlay.
A stage area, camping, food trucks and parking are all part of the proposal for the event intended to feature live music, yoga and art.
Anticipated staff numbers for the event are estimated at between 5-10 people, with around 90 volunteers and a BYO liquor licence proposed.
But the application had attracted 17 objections and the council officer recommendation facing councillors at Tuesday evening’s meeting was to refuse a permit on grounds including fire risk, traffic congestion and safety concerns.
Further grounds for refusal included concerns over potential noise impacts and that the application was deemed inconsistent with the objectives of the farming zone for the protection of agricultural land. Get the full story in today’s Mail…
