Perth Voice Interactive

THE Origin New Year’s Eve party rejected by Perth city councillors has found a home in Subiaco.

The PCC was split over the decision, with councillors Rob Butler and Reece Harley voting to let the party go ahead but the rest of the gang worrying over the impact on neighbours.

Festival organiser Saran Bajaj says the rejection was puzzling since “the City of Perth is usually quite easy to deal with”. “This is the first time the event has been approved by officers but turned down by councillors.It’s their loss. We’re not bitter about it, we don’t have anything against them and we’d love to work with them in the future. The City of Perth is usually quite negotiable.”

Mr Bajaj had agreed to lower the bass, add extra security, organise buses for punters to leave at the end of the night, and include a variety of acts so it wasn’t wall-to-wall bass. But that wasn’t enough for lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi and councillors Jim Adamos, Janet Davidson and Judy McEvoy who said due to the impact on neighbours and “the egress of attendees at the conclusion of the event, it would be unacceptable for the event to go ahead”.

Other councils, including Victoria Park, Swan, Vincent and Subiaco, reached out to Origin to try to make the event happen, and organisers settled on Subiaco.

by DAVID BELL