Brisbane council cuts permit fees to ignite an explosion of events

Brisbane’s council is hoping to boost the number of community events and festivals across the city by reducing or scrapping permit fees for organisers, as part of its upcoming budget.

Under the changes, venues such as schools, gyms, and churches would be freed from the council charges, which range from about $1650 to $3393 depending on the event’s size.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the permit changes would make it cheaper and easier to hold events across the city – from markets to pop-up cinemas.Credit: Must Do Brisbane

“There does need to be some oversight of events because many include things like road closures and traffic diversions, and that’s something we have to continue to look at,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said on Sunday.

But, speaking from the Parkinson Multicultural and Dragon Boat Festival at Forest Lake, he said smaller and long-term events don’t need to be overly regulated or charged such high fees.

“So we’re taking that red tape and those fees away,” he said.

The changes were an effort to make it cheaper and easier for people to hold events across the city, such as farmers’ markets, pop-up cinemas, and community hall activities.

Events with turnouts of more than 2000 people with little or no community impact – held between 7am and 10pm across five or fewer days – will be able to use a new self-assessable event permit category for $75 – a reduction of more than $1500.

While assessable events, such as those with outdoor music, alcohol or road closures, will continue to pay the standard permit costs, “well-established” events will be able to apply for a new multi-year permit of up to three years to save costs.

“As we know, there are some places that [have been] having events for 10, 20, 30 years,” the civic cabinet chair for city standards, Councillor Kim Marx, said of festivities such as the Mount Gravatt Show.

“They know what they’re doing; we don’t need to be telling them how to run their events.”

Labor’s council opposition leader, Jared Cassidy, said the discounts were “a long time coming” for the small community events that “make Brisbane’s suburbs so special”.

The changes, which will require amendments to the Events Local Law 2022, are set to be signed off at Tuesday’s council meeting. Updated fees and charges will then be published in the 2022-23 budget on June 14.

Schrinner would not be drawn on any further elements set to feature in the budget, but suggested any increase to rates would still leave Brisbane residents better placed than others in south-east Queensland.

Last year the average Brisbane rates bill rose by almost 5 per cent – the biggest jump in 12 years – as the city grappled with the financial consequences of floods, global conflict, and the pandemic.