THE Border’s biggest country music event has been axed this year following council concerns with parking and public safety.
The Kinross Country Muster was expected to attract up to 10,000 fans with a line-up including former Albury singer and Australian of the Year Lee Kernaghan and Australian Idol runner-up Shannon Noll.
But the three-day event, planned for Thurgoona’s Kinross Woolshed Hotel from February 26, was cancelled yesterday after Albury Council imposed a crowd limit of 3000 people.
Council’s planning team leader David Christy said there wasn’t sufficient parking provided at the site to safely cater for a crowd that was any bigger.
Thurgoona’s Narelle Keevers, who attends every year, was devastated to hear the music muster had been called off.
She was given a ticket for Christmas and was planning to go with friends and family, including her teenage grandchildren.
“It’s terribly disappointing,” Ms Keevers said.
“I think that when somebody is putting on something that’s really good for the community and obviously raises money for Albury in some way, then the council needs to get behind it.”
Kinross owner Nic Conway said the cancellation came as a blow for the pub after it recently revamped its outdoor entertainment area to hold bigger, more regular events.
A Jimmy Barnes concert held at the site last December was attended by more than 6000 people.
“We were very, very excited to get the calibre of Lee Kernaghan not long after Jimmy Barnes,” Mr Conway said.
“We think it would’ve been a massive weekend and we know people were looking forward to it.
“We were expecting close to 4000 or 5000 people to come and see Lee Kernaghan alone.”
But Mr Christy said the Jimmy Barnes concert highlighted some of the issues associated with parking and public safety at the site.
He said people were forced to park some way from the venue and walk back in the dark.
There were also concerns raised about the use of a nearby vacant block owned by Charles Sturt University in the event that it rained.
“The problem is, once they get too far away from the venue they start to run out of safe and convenient access, especially at night,” Mr Christy said.
The areas that were identified as suitable for parking were in front of the Charles Sturt University administration building, in and around the Thurgoona oval, a dirt road just south of the oval and on the side of the road in front of the pub.
Albury-Wodonga country singer Korey Livy was also planning to attend the muster but said safety must come first.
“There are probably a lot of disappointed people that have been looking forward to the event coming up,” he said.
“But at the same time, we can’t lay that blame on the city council because they’re always looking out for community safety and have based their concerns on previous events.”
Lee Kernaghan, meanwhile, has announced he will play at the Kinross Woolshed Hotel as part of his Planet Country tour on November 6.
Email a friend