Stampede go-ahead
GOOMBURRA Valley Country Music Stampede organiser Maggie Stokes wants festival goers to know the event is going ahead.
A permit has been issued by the Southern Downs Regional Council, allowing the three-day event to go ahead in August.
Mrs Stokes last week sought to change some of the conditions of her permit, which restricts the number of people attending to 300 and requires her to provide shower facilities for the event.
The council rejected the proposed changes but Mrs Stokes is not giving up the battle yet.
The matter is set to go before councillors again at an upcoming meeting.
The issue of whether the Goomburra Valley is the best place to hold the festival generated plenty of feedback from the community, both from those for and against the plan.
Mrs Stokes's husband, Graham, said he believed council members were comparing her event, which she said was aimed at 60 to 80-year-old country music fans, with a festival which got out of hand in Goomburra in 2008.
"This is a totally different thing and they're stressing a point that isn't valid," he said.
"This event is building culture for the entire area and bringing people to the valley."
Mr Stokes argued against theories that the festival goers would not spend money in the region, saying fuel, food and other general items would be snapped up by the baby boomer travellers.
