CAN NATURE and a music festival co-exist?
That’s the challenge facing organisers of Scotland’s most successful music festival, T in the Park.
I have to declare an interest here and I’m happy to do so I work as a project manager for DF Concerts & Events who organise T in the Park.
The reason I work with the company is that they are the best at what they do and widely recognised as the gold standard in event management.
Now, facing the challenge of a site move from Balado to the iconic Strathallan Castle estate, they have been subject to a campaign trying to stop the festival in its tracks with a local campaign group, Strathallan T action Group (STAG) and believe it or not, a registered charity.
You can always expect a bit of push back to planning applications but it is clear objectors are overwhelmingly in the minority.
You only have to take a walk down Auchterarder high street to see the overwhelming local support for the event, pop into a the Niblick for a pint or the Tea Room and chat to local residents.
The majority of local folk want T in the Park.
Strathallan Estate is absolutely gorgeous, rich in wildlife and lush woodland. And it’s for this reason organisations such as STAG have been trying to stop it in its tracks.
Including, I’m presuming, seducing The Courier’s own columnist Jim Crumley, whose latest column attacking the festival was straight out of a STAG black ops manual.
It was so odd and out of character for Jim, who is an experienced writer, having trained with DC Thomson and had a successful career in nature writing, has been swept up in the hysteria of a campaign group and forgotten the number one rule in journalism check your facts.
The most experienced advisers, ecologists and ornithologists in the country have spent a huge amount of time analysing the wildlife and environment at Strathallan.
They have advised organisers not only on measures to protect the site but also to ensure the natural habitat thrives in the long-term.
These plans have also been approved by SNH, SEPA and other relevant expert bodies and will, in turn, be analysed further by Perth and Kinross Council before a planning decision is made as they should be.
I find it strange that Mr Crumley, who knows a thing or two about wildlife and conservation, clearly has not actually read the plans for the festival and is happy to discount the experts he would normally take heed of.
DF Concerts & Events have been rightly put through their paces by Perth and Kinross Council and is working flat out to ensure robust plans are in place to protect the local environment at Strathallan.
And let’s remember, the only reasons the organisers have to go through planning is because an Osprey nest was found on site. Normally, festivals do not go through planning.
T in the Park has been recognised repeatedly for its green credentials and is the UK’s only major festival to be awarded the Greener Festival Award for seven years running.
The site at Balado, next to a Special Site of Scientific Interest, was praised by SEPA last year for an outstanding commitment to ensuring minimal impact on the environment.
Claims by the Scottish Woodland Trust, with former Lib Dem councillor Charles Dundas leading the charge to stop T in the Park taking place, are not exactly the responsible position you would expect of a charity in receipt of public funds and donations, whose public position that should be based on facts. The charity has started a petition littered with inaccuracies to stop T in the Park.
For example, it cites information about various trees on Strathallan from a 130-year-old handbook called Woods, Forests and Estates.
Going by their logic, no festival should take place near old woodlands which would effectively rule out outdoor events taking place.
DF Concerts & Events have strategies in place for all of the relevant species in the Species Protection Plan that will work not just this year but for many years to come.
You see the goal is not just to mitigate but also to spend time and finances helping to improve and safeguard the site’s environment over the long-term, as they did in Balado.
Scotland has a world-class reputation in hosting events.
Organisations should work with the festival to promote and protect the ecology and wildlife in and around Strathallan, not against it.
They have a unique opportunity to educate a new generation of the 85,000 strong attendees, the majority of whom are between 18-25. And let’s not forget more than 9 million people watch the festival on the BBC.
As long as proper plans are in place to promote and protect the area in which events operate, which is always key to receiving a license, we should work with our environment and promote Scotland as a destination for world-class events.
Otherwise, what message does it send out about brand Scotland plc?
It’s for this reason and many more, I would urge anyone who has an interest in the festival, please go online to Perth and Kinross Council website or www.dfconcertsandevents.com/Tlocal and read the plans for yourself.
I think nature and a music festival can co-exist. But make your own mind up, based on the facts.