Residents front up to festival on their doorsteps

Darlinghurst residents are riling up against Council’s plans to extend the Primo Italiano festival to parts of Riley Street, calling it an unwelcome expansion.
Several Riley Street residents claim they were not consulted about plans to section off Riley Street in between Francis Street and Seale Street to erect stalls for the annual Primo festival, which has been extended beyond Stanley Street this year.
Structures would be in place and roads closed for over 24 hours, leaving residents questioning whether they will be blocked in.
“It would create a severe intrusion into our privacy on the Saturday and especially on the Sunday with wall to wall crowds and noise,” said George Parker, just one of the residents that said they lamented the festival being imposed on their doorsteps.
“This area is a residential precinct, not commercial,” Mr Parker said in a fly distributed around the neighbourhood.
Centred around Stanley Street, the Primo Italiano festival will happen on May 24, celebrating east Sydney’s ‘little Italy’ culture.
A map released March 3 shows seven stalls lining the section of Riley Street, including a children’s activities area near the street garden. However, the development application released on April 21 makes no mention of the new set-up.
Residents also received a letter in early March about road closures in the area, but was silent regarding the extension of the festival.
“At no stage were any of the people who live in the street notified of the expansion of that commercial activity into the street. It’s a matter of courtesy,” said Charis Schwarz, another Riley Street resident.
“We want to be notified of it. We want to know what structures, what hours are involved. Hoards of people come to that festival.”
A Council spokesperson said the 200 metre expansion was to accommodate growing crowds.
More than 35,000 people attended the festival in 2008, which is now entering its fifth year.
The spokesperson said the City encourages residents to view to proposal and make a submission.
Dominc Zucaro, owner of Bill and Tony’s café on Stanley Street, said the festival was a great benefit to the area but Council needed to engage in more thorough consultation with residents and businesses alike.
“No business whatsoever has been asked how the festival should be run and I don’t think any residents have been asked either, and if the residents aren’t happy, I’m not happy,” he said.
The development application is on public exhibition until May 13.