Splendour venue makes final bid to become festival’s permanent home

Over the last few months, we’ve probably scared you somewhat by reporting on the very real fact that the North Byron Parklands could no longer play host to huge festivals such as Splendour In The Grass and Falls Festival. Now, the venue is in the final stages of cementing itself as the permanent home to these awesome gigs.

Back in July, it was reported that despite Splendour In The Grass having called the North Byron Parklands home for five years, it was time for an assessment to work out whether the venue could host events of such a size without negatively affecting the native surrounds.

Thankfully, back in September it was announced that the location was granted a trial extension by the NSW Planning and Assessment Commission, and that festivals would continue to be held there for at least the next 20 months.

So, all good, right? Well, now the venue is submitting its final bid to become the permanent home to gigs and festivals, and they’re calling for your help.

As The Music notes, the North Byron Parklands have today submitted a proposal to the NSW Department Of Planning And Environment which has the potential to see the location become a permanent home to the aforementioned events, and host a number of one day gigs and other community-based events.

“We feel we have done an outstanding job in managing our environmental impact which has been reflected through a range of improvements covering traffic, noise and community amenity during the trial,” Parklands General Manager, Mat Morris, explained to The Music.

“A special thank you to government agencies such as the NSW Police, Rural Fire Service, Byron Shire Council and of course a diverse cross section of community members who have all played a part in making Parklands the success it is today.”

“We now hope to be able to operate on a permanent basis so that we can invest in improvements to the site which will further enhance this world-class cultural venue.”

Now, the North Byron Parklands are calling on its vast army of backers to come forth and throw their support behind the cause, asking them to make their own submission to help sway the NSW Department Of Planning And Environment’s opinions.

“We urge supporters of North Byron Parklands to make a submission to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in support of the application to become a permanent home for Arts and Culture in NSW,” Mat Morris explained.

You can head along to this site to show your support for the North Byron Parklands, but be sure to act quick, because you’ve only got until February 16th to do so.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.