Plans For More Major Events At Centennial Park Scrapped
Image: centennialparklands/Instagram
The New South Wales government has scrapped plans to raise the number of events held in Centennial Park each year, and people say NIMBYs are to blame.
The Australian Festivals’ Association was calling on the government to lift the cap on the number of major events in the park, lobbying to raise the number from eight to 12.
A major event is classified as a gathering of 20,000 people or more, with Centennial Park only holding three throughout the duration of 2024, and two the previous year.
“Increasing the cap would send a strong message to the industry and community that the NSW government is committed to finding ways to better support its festival industry and the many thousands of people who work in it in NSW,” the AFA wrote in their review submission.
Event manager for Good Things told the Sydney Morning Herald last year that the parklands were underutilised.
“The park is allowed eight events as it is but operates three or four across the year. Why? We know the answer is the concerns of residents,” he said.
“When you live on the boundary of the park, sure you don’t want to have events on your doorstep but the city suffers – especially when nearby Moore Park is ruled out as a greenfield site. We have such a lack of these spaces and Sydney should be a city where live music can be enjoyed by all.”
Locals concerned about noise and damage to grass
In an interview with 2GB earlier this week, co-chair of the Centennial Park Residents Association, Peter Tzannes said that the park was like a “backyard” for many of the nearby residents to live in high rise apartments.
“By having festivals in the parkland you are effectively privatising a portion of that park for the period in which the event is held, plus beforehand the bump in and afterwards the bump out.
“Over the years we’ve seen huge amounts of grass damaged by the people who attend. Very often it may be wet or raining and that grass is trampled and has to be replaced.
“And be aware again, this is public land it is not private land, and therefore by having concerts on public land it becomes privatised.”
Despite assuring listeners that the group were not NIMBYs, Tzannes also discussed the association’s opposition to noise created by festivals and concerts, saying it was “very disturbing”.
NSW’s Night-time Economy Minister, John Graham, said that a balance needed to be struck between the welfare of residents and the need for a more vibrant Sydney culture.
“But the real issue for Sydney is if we can’t hold these big outdoor events in Centennial Park or the Domain or some of these other key places – where are they gonna be held?” he said.
“And the truth is as a city, if we’re really going to reach our potential, we need to be able to have a place for these events to happen.
“We’ve gotta do that in a balanced way … but we need to see these events happen.”
Graham also confirmed that a consultation about changes to the planning law was currently in progress, saying the government’s ambition to bring the city back to life was being stalled by the concert cap at the parklands.
“This is one of the things we’re consulting on – should that cap remain in place, or not?
“The change hasn’t been made up ‘til now because we hadn’t consulted the community but that consultation is going on at the moment.”
