A CONCERT on Hastings foreshore by US band Smashing Pumpkins has been cancelled because insurers class the site as “an unacceptable risk”.
A former landfill site, the foreshore can become “environmentally unstable in extreme weather” and Mornington Peninsula Shire requires users to “complete a hazard and risk register”, the mayor Cr Steve Holland said.
Concert promoters One World Entertainment said it cancelled the Smashing Pumpkins’ The World is a Vampire tour concert on Saturday 22 April because the council’s regulations had made it uninsurable.
“Any wet weather can lead to an event being shut down at the council’s discretion, this has made our event at Hastings foreshore become uninsurable, leaving One World with no choice but to move it,” a statement on the company’s website states.
The concert will now be held at Port Melbourne. Tickets sold for the Hastings show are valid at Port Melbourne or a Pumpkins’ concert at Kryal Castle, Ballarat on Sunday 23 April.
“We understand there are insurance issues plaguing the industry at the moment and recent weather events in Queensland and New South Wales have made outdoor festivals and events difficult and expensive to insure,” Holland said.
“Because Hastings foreshore is a former landfill site, it can become environmentally unstable in extreme weather and our new environmental plan requires users of the site to complete a hazard and risk register.
“I understand the environmental issues at Hastings foreshore posed an unacceptable risk to the insurer of this event.
“We are working with the organisers to bring more events down to the foreshore in the future but sadly, due to the time-sensitivity of this particular event, the organisers had to make alternative arrangements.”
Holland said the shire had “invested heavily” in support of the local music industry which was “a crucial factor in the health and wellbeing of our community”.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 7 March 2023
