$800 'criminal' act behind innocent photo of lights on the beach
Bush doof parties have been all the rage along one popular beach path recently.
A string of lights along a popular beach path led an unsuspecting walker straight toward a bush doof just over a week after a fire from a similar unauthorised party wrecked havoc nearby.
The events are believed to be professionally run and connect a network of eager partygoers who are notified last minute where they can enjoy a celebration in the outdoors — but often leave the area in a worse condition than they found it.
The event was to be held on January 10 along the Federation Walk Coastal Reserve at the Spit in the Gold Coast, an area where the state government invested $8 million in a revegetation programme planting up to 350,000 plants. However, as the site was discovered before the party had begun, it was reported to the City of Gold Coast council who shut it down due to the risk it posed on restoration efforts.
"These parties are impacting it all terribly," Lyn Wright from Friends of Federation Walk told Yahoo News. "There's a tremendous amount of birds that benefit from those sites where there is growing vegetation, and the plants themselves are damaged. There is a lot of impact on the flora and fauna."
Hundreds of people were expected to show up and despite this bush doof being stopped, many locals are on high alert for the next one, with many eager for them to be discontinued for good.
"It's criminal. Any party that's going to be a commercial party and serving alcohol and creating a disturbance, there has to be a heavy fine for those who even attend... there's no licence," Wright said
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Partygoers face $800 fine for hosting bush doof events
The City of Gold Coast Council told Yahoo News party hosts can face fines of up to $806 if found responsible for unauthorised events like this as they pose a severe impact on the environment.
"The City takes steps to prevent unauthorised parties and events in our public spaces and natural areas. These events can damage plants and trees, trample ecological restoration areas and also cause stress to native wildlife, and have negative impacts on amenity," a spokesperson said. It is unclear if attendees face a fine.
The council has a zero-tolerance approach to the events and urges the public to report them to their website.
Federation Walk was engulfed in flames over the first hours of New Year's Eve after a fire started at a bush doof and burned through two hectares of land, 9News reports.
Due to the unregulated nature of these parties, there have been alarming incidents reported from events in the past. Then 21-year-old Rob Fairchild was missing for several days after he attended a bush doof party in 2014, getting lost and becoming hypothermic before rescuers found him.
In 2022, the government approved a $250,000 reward in a police appeal for information after a 31-year-old woman was bashed and sexually assaulted at a similar event at Broome's Cable Beach.
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