Wollongong City Council shared this update yesterday, 12 February 2025
For some time, Wollongong City Council has been working closely with representatives of Yours and Owls in the planning of their upcoming event on 1 and 2 March, 2025.
With an event of this scale, it’s Council’s practice to have a phased approach to the event assessment and approval process. This allows the event organisers the opportunity to work closely and collaboratively with key stakeholders like Council, NSW Police, Transport for NSW, NSW Health and NSW Ambulance across the duration of their event-planning timeframe.
The assessment process provides the organisers with the flexibility to respond to stakeholder feedback if needed up to within days of the event.
As part of this process, we gave in-principle support to Yours and Owls in late December 2024 following extended conversations regarding Yours and Owls’ proposed management of a range of site variables, and the receipt of a formal event application.
The Traffic Management Plan and Guidance Scheme for Yours and Owls was considered by the City of Wollongong Traffic Committee on Tuesday 11 February and it’s expected an interim licence will be issued to Yours and Owls by early next week.
It’s expected final approval for the event will be issued in the days leading up to its bump in.
Wollongong City Council is a big supporter and a keen advocate for seeing a diverse range of events on offer in our city, and we’re looking forward to seeing the festival on Flagstaff Hill next month.
We know events like this are valued by our community members as a great way for people to socialise and feel connected to their community. They can support a range of local businesses – the team behind Yours and Owls are locals – and offer the benefit of bringing tourists and day-trippers into the city.
Outside of Wollongong, Council is recognised as an industry leader for our Foreshore Generic Event Approvals, which helps fast-track event delivery. These pre-approved sites, provide clear guidelines and a starting point for event organisers, and mean individual event organisers are not required to work through a DA process.
We’re appreciative of the collaborative approach the Yours and Owls event team has taken to working with all the key stakeholders, including Council.
We’re comfortable with the progression of the Yours and Owls event planning and are excited about the opportunity to see another high-quality event on Flagstaff Hill.
Read more: Yours and Owls’ mega foreshore event: why our Council is caught between a rock (’n’ roll) and a hard place, an opinion piece by Jeremy Lasek