news, local-news, YASS, DRAGON DREAMING, Anneke Vo, ORGANISERS, unharm, drug harm reduction organisation 'Unharm'

The tragic death of 23-year-old Anneke Vo - identified by her Facebook account - has struck a nerve with many about whether the Dragon Dreaming Festival should continue to run. But owners of the property that house the festival, Ian and Helen Cathles, have come forward with a plea not to shut it down. “Just like the Dragon Dreaming community we are deeply saddened by the loss of a young and precious life,” Mrs Cathles said. “We strongly support the Dragon Dreaming Festival. It is a music and lifestyle festival that has created its own community over many years and it has been an absolute pleasure to host them on our land. We do want the festival to continue for many years to come." The original Dragon Dreaming Development Application was over 70 pages long and covered necessary aspects of operation for a festival of this size, including comprehensive medical emergency and management plans. Mrs Cathles said that the economic benefits to the community are important to recognise. “Not only does it bring great culture and diversity to the area, it also substantially boosts Yass shop sales. “It is a great injection for the local community, especially when you consider those 2,500 plus people wouldn’t normally be shopping in Yass. “Our Wee Jasper community runs a food stall at the festival from 6am to 3am and this year we raised $10,500 that will be shared between the WJ School excursion fund, the WJ Memorial Hall and the Volunteer Bushfire Brigade.” She said because Wee Jasper is a small community of only around 80 people, "outside" dollars are essential in helping the community grow. “The most amazing thing to see is people absolutely elated by the music and each others company - it truly is incredible,” she continued. “Having grown up in a household of domestic violence, to experience 2,500 plus people living together for four days and have not a cross word spoken or violence of any kind is, well it is just fantastic. “It would be a great loss to shut something down that gives so much, not just to Wee Jasper, but also to the wider community.” Festival director, Shane Russell, expressed sympathy for the Sydney woman's family but didn’t say whether there would be changes to the format of the festival next year. "Dragon Dreaming considers the safety of patrons a priority and we will continue to work closely with all authorities to determine exactly what happened in this situation," Mr Russell said. "This event relies on a close-knit community of volunteers and patrons who are all saddened by the tragic loss of a precious young life." The cause of Anneke Vo’s death remains unknown although there is already speculation that it was drug-related. Drug harm reduction organisation 'Unharm' There were a large number of arrests for drug possession at the festival which prompted drug harm reduction organisation 'Unharm' to speak out about how authorities deal with these kinds of events. Outraged by the police statements, Unharm director Will Tregoning said that the community must deal with this issue in an honest and realistic way, rather than pushing it out of sight. “Illicit drug use is not unique to events like this. In fact, more than a million people in NSW use illicit drugs each year. The medical and harm reduction outreach services available at music festivals make them relatively safe places to use illicit drugs. Heavy handed policing just pushes people to use substances in other contexts where these kinds of services are not available." Director of Planning and Environmental Services, Chris Berry said that the tragedy hasn’t changed the way council will approached the Dragon Dreaming DA. “We will take on any recommendations from any appropriate authorities, such as the police, but we have to operate in terms of the consent,” Mr Berry said. “The difficulty is we are talking about individuals making individual decisions. I can’t stop people - if they want to break the law they will break the law. If they are caught they have to face the consequences of that. “As a council of land planning, we can’t do much in dictating people's behaviour. There is an annual review mechanism and we will be working closely with the police in this matter.” The Dragon Dreaming DA will come up again before next year’s event.

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