Organisers of the three-day Indigo Evolution New Year’s Eve Arts and Music Festival have been summonsed to appear in the NSW Land and Environment Court on 5 February.
The dance party took place on a private property at Busby Flat, Rapville, about two hours away from Byron Bay from December 31 to January 2 despite court orders prohibiting the event.
Richmond Valley Council acting general manager Vaugan Macdonald said evidence collected by council officers showed that around 2000 people attended the event.
‘Neither the police nor the council had the resources to close it down,” Mr Macdonald told Echonetdaily.
‘A hearing date has been set for February and then it is a matter for the court to determine whether the court orders were breached.’
The court orders, which are available to read on the Richmond Valley Council website, list the property owner James William Campbourn as the first respondent, 3rd Eye Productions as the second respondent, and Nathan Joel Rodgers-Falk as the third respondent.
In the days leading up to the event, Nathan Falk posted notices on Facebook saying that he and 3rd Eye Productions were no longer associated with the event, which ultimately ran under the banner of OneMobCollective.
Mr Macdonald said it would be for the court to decide whether Mr Rodgers-Falk and 3rd Eye Productions were still liable.
He said the Richmond Valley Council was not against ‘these types of parties’, but no approvals were sought or given for the Indigo Evolution gathering.
He said the council had made 11th hour application to have the party shut down after being approached by local police who raised concerns.
‘The council is not against these types of parties. This year we approved Rabbits Eat Lettuce and they have received approvals to hold dance parties because they have gone through the proper channels,’ he said.
‘That includes consultations with the police and council, taking into account things like public safety, access, infrastructure and bushfire risks,’ he said.
Mr Macdonald said the council applied to the court for orders against the Indigo Evolution party after being approached by local police voicing concerns.
He said he was unaware of any problems that arose at the party that required police attention.
“The council is not against these types of parties”
Well let them go ahead then. It used to be so much nicer when we had more freedoms to actually have fun. Cops voicing concerns should go and find people who are being violent on meth or alcohol and stop that sort of crime, or thefts for that matter as well.
A bunch of hippies dancing to some loud music seems pretty low on the list of major priorities doesnt it?
I’m glad it wasn’t stopped. I hope the whole thing gets thrown out of court, what a waste of time.
have you actually seen the way some of those hippies dance though?
Could not agree more Jenny Mac.
Where do these nuggets think they get there powers from? They govern by consent, not force.
Latest I heard was action being taken to make festival organisers responsible for when drugs are taken in. They can’t even keep drugs out of prisons or police parties so how the hell are festival organisers supposed to do it?
They should concentrate on dealing with actual crimes with real victims, this focus on ‘preventative measures’ will eventually leave the public with nothing that they can do.
Right, since when were cops knowledgeable to advise council? What exactly is their concern? I can hear them now quoting policy and articulating safety risks. Are they just afraid the council might ask them to go to the doof? Is council afraid to lose favour with the cops? Totally out of touch
Jenny,
On this occasion it seems the organisers probably “did the right thing”.
But without some form of formal approval process, it would rapidly become a free-for-all.
Give the cops and the Council a break!
Surely it isn’t asking too much that organisers of such events tick a few boxes and ensure everybody (i.e. the whole community) has a fair go. To site just one glaring issue – would it be reasonable for me to put on such an event, and make no provision for an adequate number of dunnies (or for that matter, any dunnies at all) and just make it a free-for-all into the waterway running through my property?
Perhaps unfortunately, ever since we’ve crawled out of caves, society has had to have some form of formal structures in place. In this instance it fell on the Council to push the organisers to jump through a few hoops – dare I say it, probably for the benefit of the community as a whole.
Well !
It’s the wowser- state, this was a private party on private land .
Who, in the name of Hell, gave the councils the right to dictate where and when people can have fun ?
This, the same council that invited the CSG vandals to Bentley
I find a growing need to attend a full-blown 60’s style LOVE-IN where SEX, DRUGS ,AND ROCK &ROLL are all available and encouraged.
We have already been over this ground and no-one can force peaceful, fun-loving people to conform to some random set of rules……… and it’s about time democracy prevailed again in order to teach the fascist councils ,police and government if need be, that they, are public servants
………. and if the public want to light up a big joint,kick back and listen to some good music and make love if they choose, then these public servants better provide safe facilities and do what they are paid for ie. serve the public.
I must say that there’s a disturbing trend to legalise all fun out of existence. If some individuals take bad drugs and kill themselves, there’s still no reason to shut down events or legislate them out of existence as one poiltician in threatening to do.
Why does the council never consider the impact of this dreadful noise (I don’t call it music by any stretch) on local wildlife? An ecologist should be consulted. Irrespective of whether local species are threatened or not, how could any bird sleep not to mention the biological impact of the loud thumping noise on its physical and emotional bodies? Very loud sounds passing through the body can stimulate the receptors within the body and may trigger a reaction that the body thinks it’s being traumatised. If people choose to subject themselves to it that is one thing but please have some consideration for others for whom this causes suffering!
wow. That has to be the most silliest things i have ever read.. You are wondering if music(your personal opinion on what is or is not music inst invalid) can negatively effect animals.. i really hope you are trolling
Bravo council.
These organisers are obviously thumbing there noses at the rule of law.
Could it be they are aliens or just greedy?
The unsung heroes here are your local government employees who work tirelessly in an attempt to preserve your right to enjoy the amenity of your chosen lifestyle.
Pleased it wasn’t next to me.
bring back the days when we were able to dance in the forest and just enjoy ourselves without busy body interference. We never did any harm,we got creative and made our own installations with very little money and we took care and looked out for each other, we were fastidious in our clean up afterwards . Alcohol was not a problem, the kids were safe and had a wonderful time and all in all we had a magical time out there, some thing that commercial festivals can never hope to achieve
Since they locked the gates of the forest , we have seen a massive upsurge in alcohol and drug abuse by our young, as they are corralled into commercial alcohol venues, and outrageously priced commercial festivals it saddens me to see our drunken youth on the streets of byron bay looking for freedom of expression and meaning in all the wrong places.
I think it’s about time there was an all night venue in the middle of a hundred acres somewhere local. People need to be able to dance and celebrate without time limits placed upon them.