Bega Valley Shire Council is to hold an extraordinary meeting next week to discuss a potential shift in location for the inaugural Wanderer Festival.
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The three-day festival was launched to great acclaim last month, with pre-sale tickets already sold out - not surprising given acts like The Dandy Warhols, Curtis Harding, Ziggy Alberts and DMA's are among the headliners already announced.
However, council has revealed that the development application for the festival at its proposed site in Bournda may not be resolved in time for it to be held on its flagged dates of September 23-25.
It is now proposed the festival be relocated to the Pambula Sporting Complex, with council staff to recommend that move, subject to appropriate conditions, to councillors.
In the agenda for July 13's extraordinary council meeting, staff noted the Wanderer Festival was originally intended to be held on land near to Bournda National Park and adjoining Sapphire Coast Drive.
"A development application for the event to be held on that site was lodged with council and as the assessment progressed it became apparent to the proponent that the site had a number of constraints that meant it was unlikely the DA would be able to be assessed with all potential issues addressed within a timeframe that would allow the event to proceed."
Council noted the event had received "a significant grant" from the NSW government to support its establishment, and that organisers intended to establish the Wanderer Festival as an annual event to be held in the Bega Valley.
"The festival is intended to be a social and cultural event that provides activities for people of all ages including a range of live performances, markets and rides for children. The festival aligns with other typical uses of the Pambula Sporting Complex," the council report reads.
"A use of public land application has been submitted to council with staff assessing the detail of the application to ensure that any potential site or peripheral issues are accounted for. Through discussions with the chief executive officer there does not appear to be any significant issues that cannot be addressed prior to the event occurring."
Staff also noted there was a risk that if approval to proceed with the Pambula Sporting Complex site was not granted, there would not be time to find a way for the event to proceed, "meaning a significant lost opportunity not only for the local economy but socially and culturally for the community".
A Public Forum will be held at 9.30am on Wednesday 13 July ahead of the extraordinary Council meeting.
To apply to speak at the Public Forum, click here
The extraordinary Council meeting and the Public Forum will be livestreamed via the council website.
The meeting agenda is available here