FEEDBACK from angry neighbours will be considered in a Mornington Peninsula Shire Council review of a noisy music afternoon at The Briars.
Mount Martha resident Ken Anderson was furious at being subjected to the “disgusting noise which overwhelmed a large part of Mount Martha in the Bay Road area all day” on Sunday 16 February.
“I demand that [the shire] never again issue a permit for such an inappropriate event at The Briars,” he said.
The event was: “The Mobile Disco – Carl Cox and Eric Powell will be digging into their record collections and playing some of their favourite tracks, songs that were part of their lives growing up, songs that have influenced them over the years.”
Mr Anderson wrote: “For more than nine hours we had to endure thumping bass reflex speakers pounding us … so loud in the evening that we could hardly hear our TV.”
Thinking the noise was coming from a nearby house “because the racket was so loud”, Mr Anderson said he drove around nearby streets so he could give the police an address. He then realised it was coming from The Briars, about three kilometres away.
He said the police had indicated there were “many other complaints” about the noise and its duration.
“Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is responsible because [it] issued a permit to these people allowing them to disrupt a peaceful Sunday for many residents,” Mr Anderson said.
“This is not to mention members of the public who might have wanted a quiet stroll through the nature reserve at The Briars or who visited the Eco Centre.
“The permit prevented the police from closing the event down.”
The shire’s executive manager infrastructure services Jessica Wingaad told Mr Anderson that a review would “consider whether something of this nature is appropriate at The Briars in future”.
Ms Wingaad said the music event from 12-9pm in the event paddock outside the visitor centre had complied with EPA guidelines. “We work with the event organisers to ensure all our events are compliant, including measuring not more than 65db at a residence and finishing by 10pm,” she said.
“This shire limits the number of events of this nature [each year] to ensure a suitable balance of events at this particular site.
“These requirements are listed as part of our event permit process.
“We will ensure all feedback received will be added to our review of the event and consider whether something of this nature is appropriate for The Briars in the future.”
Mr Anderson said he received moral support from management of The Briars agreeing they were “on the same page” regarding the unsuitability of the venue for some types of events – especially rock music.
“We have been reviewing Sunday’s event and unless an alternative directive comes to us we will not be running an event of this nature again,” he was told in an email.
The email said the engagement of a sound engineer aimed to ensure any music amplification had minimal impact on neighbours, whether classical music or performance art.
First published in the Mornington News – 25 February 2020
