Splendour in the Grass Hit With Fine Over Traffic Issues
The parent company of Splendour in the Grass has been hit with a hefty fine due to traffic issues earlier this year.
As per news.com.au, Billinudgel Property has copped a $100,000 sanction for failing to comply with the festival’s traffic management plan. Splendour took place at Byron Bay back in July.
After a surplus of tickets were sold by Splendour, attendees were forced to queue for over 12 hours in their vehicles but were then turned away from the flooded campgrounds. Traffic chaos then ensued, with school buses also affected.
According to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment, the $100,000 fine will be split between 10 affected schools in the local area. It will be up to each individual school to decide how the money is distributed.
“We place strict conditions on events such as Splendour in the Grass for a reason, and organisers need to abide by them,” a spokesman for the NSW Department said in a statement.
“Traffic queuing resulted in short term, but significant traffic delays to the community, including schoolchildren travelling home from school on Thursday, July 21st 2022.
“After considering all of the options available to us, we have decided that the best outcome for the community is for the company to contribute financially to improvements to nearby schools through an enforceable undertaking.”
Jessica Ducrou, co-CEO of Secret Sounds, apologised in a statement: “Residents and schoolchildren were frustrated by unusually long queues, made worse by the weather, as Splendour festival goers tried to access their camping accommodation.”
“We had a rigorous planning process in place through the Department of Planning which included council involvement and local committees such as the Local Traffic Committee, Local Emergency Management Committee and a Regulatory Working Group.
“However, we faced an unprecedented weather event, unlike anything we have seen in our 30 years of presenting festivals.”
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