With Meredith Music Festival 2014 less than a month away, Aunty Meredith has issued another reminder to would-be punters that trespassing on her beloved Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre will result in the harshest punishment that the law will allow.
And make no mistake, Aunty Meredith is not averse to getting the law involved. According to a recent press release issued by festival organisers, 11 “offenders” are due to appear before the Geelong & Melbourne Magistrates court via summons this month, stemming from trespass charges.
“Meredith Music Festival and Golden Plains Festival have succeeded in reducing trespassers by adopting a ‘Zero Tolerance’ approach to people trying to gain entry to the festival without a valid ticket, by foot, vehicle or other means,” organisers write.
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“Such persons are trespassers and are therefore breaking the law,” reads the popular festival’s official trespasser policy. “The maximum penalty for trespassing is approximately $2,750 or 6 months imprisonment.”
“Anyone assisting trespassers will be refused entry or ejected from the festival and banned from future festivals at the site. If a vehicle is found to be carrying or assisting even one trespasser, all occupants of the vehicle will be refused entry.”
According to Aunty Meredith, the current prosecutions, which follow-on from charges laid against 18 people after last year’s event, come in response to “a number of serious issues arising from people attempting to gain entry without a valid ticket”.
Among these are “personal injury risk walking through worksites, farms, dangerous and unknown terrain, sometimes at night” and “bushfire risk walking through adjoining properties and bushland, including the risk of vehicles blocking important local access roads and gates”.
“A process to support the Zero Tolerance Policy was designed with locals, neighbours, Victoria Police and security,” organisers add. “Those caught trespassing have unsuccessfully pleaded not to be charged on discovering that a criminal conviction wipes out employment prospects and in many cases can have them removed from current employment.”
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“Festival Organisers will continue to enforce the Zero Tolerance approach with the support of the local community, Victoria Police, and the legit festival-goers. Attempting to get into the festival without a valid ticket is not a harmless bit of fun – it has serious consequences.”
“Festival-goers and those who missed out on tickets have expressed their disappointment at people who tried to scam or cheat their way in. Trespassing also breaches the festival’s ‘No Dickhead Policy.'”
Aunty Meredith’s sentiments echo a press release issued in the wake of last year’s prosecutions, in which the benefactor of both Meredith Music Festival and Golden Plains wrote that organisers would be using the 18 offenders as a hardline action of the ‘No Dickheads’ policy, designed to “protect the integrity” of the two events.
