Festival axed

IT’S a rollicking event, filled with electronic music, revelry and individual expression — one that last year took place on the banks of Wooroonook Lakes, south of Wycheproof.

The Maitreya Festival, in its tenth year was set to go ahead March 11-14, drawing a crowd of around 7000 and injecting the Charlton and Wooroonook Lakes community with millions in revenue.

Last week the Buloke Shire Council issued a notice of intention to refuse a planning permit to the organisers of Maitreya due to a lack of documentation.

Among the documents requested by February 1 were approved planning permits, insurance policies, agreements with all service providers for the events, traffic, emergency and environmental management plans, and liquor licensing.

“It is with great disappointment that council has had to decline a licence and issue a notice of intention to refuse a planning permit for the use of the Wooroonook Lakes for staging the Maitreya Festival next month,” Buloke Shire Mayor Reid Mather said.

According to a media release issued by the Buloke Shire council there were numerous correspondences and personal meetings that made the time-frame clear. 

For more on this story, pick up a copy of today’s (Monday, February 16) The Guardian…