Editorial: Not enough work done before the music died

McLaren Falls Music Festival director Paxton Talbot. Photo/John Borren

It's unfair to blame the relocation of the McLaren Falls Festival on local residents who were opposed to the plan.

The new music festival, which promised to entertain thousands from January 10-12 at McLaren Falls Park, has changed venue to Auckland. Festival director Paxton Talbot, who made the announcement on Thursday, said the decision was made after negotiations with residents in the area failed to resolve several outstanding concerns.

The news dashed the hopes of Bay music fans, and festival-goers from further afield, who planned to attend - some of whom had already booked flights.

Plans for the festival - and especially the impressive line-up of international acts that had been signed for the event - were welcomed when they were revealed earlier this year. It's not hard to see why. Tauranga - the fifth largest city in New Zealand - has been starved of international acts, especially for young people.

The McLaren Falls festival appeared to tick all the boxes. It would have bolstered the local economy and helped promote the Western Bay as a destination.

The natural beauty of the area would have served as a wonderful backdrop for the event. There may have been some safety issues, in terms of nearby waterways, but these could have been reduced with good planning.

The growing enthusiasm surrounding the festival turned to anger after this week's announcement. Former Tauranga resident Brent Ireland had been planning to fly home to attend.

"The fun police strike again all because they can't handle a bit of noise in their backyard for two days of the year," he said.

"They quickly forget about the million-dollar spin-off this would have had for the area, and the ongoing exposure on the international scale that this event would have created. Tauranga says it wants to move ahead and be more appealing but if the most exciting thing that's allowed is some statues on the waterfront, then it's not going anywhere."

He's right in that the event would have been a great drawcard for the region, but it is too easy to blame the residents who opposed the plan. I can understand their reluctance to have the festival on their doorstep and they have every right to express their concerns.

Those concerns would have been balanced against the potential benefits of the event if a resource consent had been sought by the organisers.

Yet the organisers made the decision to relocate prior to lodging a consent application with the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.

Arguments for and against could have been assessed by the council and it could have made a decision on whether or not it should go ahead.

Mr Talbot says organisers had been working extremely hard for months to go through the resource consent process, but ultimately needed to make a decision to move the festival.

Perhaps, time was against them and the event would have been in jeapordy if the application had been declined but, in my view, given that the event had been announced, tickets had been sold and flights booked, the organisers should have at least lodged an application.