Victoria’s Maitreya Festival was set to return to Wooroonook Lakes next month, but may not be proceeding after Buloke Shire Council intervened and declined to issue the festival with the required permits.
As the Bendigo Advertiser reports, Mayor Reid Mather said the decision was made with “great disappointment”, but explained that council’s hands were tied after organisers failed to provide needed information.
“The council and the community have been let down by a promoter who simply could not get the needed information and reports together to enable his application to be approved,” he said.
Organisers expressed shock in a statement on Facebook, saying Buloke Shire Council and Parks Victoria had acted “without sufficient consultation with their community” and that they will be pursuing legal action.
“[Buloke Shire Council and Parks Victoria have] now forced us into a position of having to take them to court over there [sic] decision to knock back our 3 year permit at Wooroonook Lakes,” organisers wrote.
“They don’t have a legal or moral leg to stand on, don’t have the support of their community, and are now going to spend community money trying to defend their position by allowing us to take them to court.”
“When will councils in rural Victoria learn the cultural and financial significance of music festivals? Each of the major festivals in Victoria has had to go to court against a council that should be in support of them.”
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“We are confident by NEXT WEEK the council and Parks Victoria will be ordered by the court to revoke their position. It’s sad to come to this point, but the locals will appreciate feeling your support…”
Meanwhile, Mather has acknowledged that ticket-holders and the local community will feel “let-down” by the festival’s cancellation, but insisted that council “could not legally approve the festival… and considerable benefit to the community has been foregone”.
As the Advertiser notes, Maitreya’s promoters previously butted heads with local council authorities in 2013 when Central Goldfields Shire claimed organisers had failed to apply for required permits, though the festival still went ahead at Sea Lake.
Maitreya organisers are urging fans to sign this petition and “show your support to the council in making an agreement and issuing a long term permit for the event”.
