Promiseland festival will create noise which reaches western and northern Broadwater suburbs
Noise from the biggest weekend music festival ever planned on The Spit will impact Broadwater suburbs as far west as Parkwood. See if you will be affected
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Noise from the biggest weekend music festival ever planned for The Spit will impact Broadwater suburbs as far west as Parkwood, new documents reveal.
City councillors in a closed session briefing were given a slide presentation which shows how far the sound from Promiseland, on October 4-6 at Doug Jennings Park, will reach.
Rather than Main Beach and Surfers Paradise to the south being impacted, the hot spots for worst sound include the entire suburb of Biggera Waters and west to Parkwood, north to Runaway Bay and south through Labrador to Musgrave Park. The presentation says the three-day music festival would use three stages with amplified noise expected between 9am to 10pm.
Graphics obtained by The Bulletin also reveal a site plan which shows the entire area of The Spit’s most northern recreation area, Doug Jennings Park, will be used by promoters.
The concert area takes up much of the space but the plans also show a food village, markets and toilets along Seaworld Drive opposite the kiosk and car parks.
Under The Spit Master Plan, the activities listed for the top end set a primary land use of “open space and recreation, supported by limited commercial activities”.
This allows for the kiosk and cafe, first aid services and storage for beach based businesses.
When asked if she would have input into the noise management plan to be presented by promoters, Cr Curtis on Tuesday said it was not part of the officer recommendations.
“I do not expect councillors will have input into the noise management plan,” she said.
Cr Curtis said she would continue to advocate for residents who had noise concerns after receiving six complaints to her office after a March event.
“I debated against the approval of the event at both the committee and full council meetings, citing noise impacts to residents in Labrador, Biggera Waters and Runaway Bay, and the loss and reduction in public access to the Spit, over a long weekend, as my primary concerns,” she said.
“I respect the outcomes of the council meeting, and acknowledge the economic benefits of these events, however, I will continue to advocate the concerns of my noise impacted residents and will always seek to support the public use intended for the site and its surrounds.”
Council officers predict the event will attract 18,000 visitors adding $10m to the economy.
Main Beach Association leader Sue Donovan said it was surprising that her suburb escaped much of the noise issues, but traffic was the biggest challenge.
The council briefing warned “all users along Seaworld Drive, Main Beach are expected to experience congestion” and the impact would spread to the wider road network in Southport.
Mayor Tom Tate has asked the promoter to encourage fans to use the Hopo ferry to get to the hip-hop and electronic festival which will feature acts including US rappers Metro Boomin and Busta Rhymes, and Nigerian artist Rema.
Ms Donovan described the traffic congestion from recent Spit events as “massive”.
“There is no way the Hopo ferries have the capacity to transport thousands of people to Doug Jennings Park. Just look at the maths,” she said.
Other concerns included the anti-social behaviour by fans, caused by the lack of toilets.
MBA has raised safety fears given Seaworld Drive is a narrow dead end road.
“We’ll never forget the sight of cars unable to move for hours following the Seaworld helicopter tragedy,” she said.
“Last but not least Doug Jennings Park and The Spit should be accessible to the public at all times. The damage done by these big events is considerable and lasts for a long time. There should be no more than 10 events a year and attendances should be capped at 10,000.”
Promoters in April said their management plan to prevent traffic chaos would ensure a seamless roll in and roll out of fans.
Cross Promotions owner Billy Cross – who will be running the bars at the Promiseland festival – said the plan was “exceptional” and that similar steps helped ease congestion at the Souled Out concert last month.
Mr Cross said after working on events at The Spit for more than 20 years, he was confident the events space was “here to stay”.
“It’s one of the best festival sites in Australia, let alone the Gold Coast,” he said.
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