By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
GREATER Dandenong Council has stepped in to save Springvale’s drawcard Lunar New Year street festival after organisers threatened to close it down.
Springvale Asian Business Association, which has traditionally run the annual event which draws up to 90,000 visitors, had threatened to withdraw after being issued with a council infringement notice at January’s celebration.
It also claimed it needed more council funding to continue staging next year’s event.
SABA spokesman Stan Chang said a street seller had been “unreasonably” issued with an infringement notice for selling food after the festival’s permitted opening hours this year.
“Closing down a festival is not like an on-off switch,” Mr Chang said.
“If you’re in the process of closing down and someone approaches a stall and wants to buy something, I don’t think any stallholder would say no.
“From the enforcement officer’s point of view, they see it as a breach of permit. We see that as totally unreasonable.”
After negotiations, the council withdrew the infringement notice and replaced it with a warning, Mr Chang said.
“Eventually it came down to a very good result and that’s been resolved. We gave them a way out. Basically, they took up that option.”
The council and SABA have since negotiated a “new stronger working relationship” for the festival – which had been a loss-maker in the past two years, Mr Chang said.
“It’s getting harder to run larger events. It costs between $100,000 and $120,000 for us to stage it.
“SABA is still the key community group. Both parties are happy with the arrangement.”
Mayor Jim Memeti said the council would hire a full-time professional event organiser to run the 2015 event, budgeting up to a $50,000 spend.
This includes the council maintaining its $25,000 sponsorship.
“The profit or loss of the festival will be borne by the council,” Cr Memeti said.
“There’s a chance for us to turn a profit – so many stallholders will want to be part of it, and the council can get major sponsors.
“We’ve had SABA manage the event since it started but they’re part-time people with full-time jobs.”
The council’s acting community services director Lynette While said the festival was an important event in Greater Dandenong’s calendar.
“The benefits of this event are significant to both local traders and to raising the profile of the city and showcasing it to the broader world.”
“(The) council will work together with SABA to proactively review and evaluate the event after February 2015 with a view to ensuring its continued success.”
