The organisers of Perth’s popular Origin NYE festival are scrambling to find a new venue for their upcoming event, which is set to bring AlunaGeorge, Danny Brown, and more to the Western Australian capital, after the City of Perth rejected plans for the event to be held at Wellington Square.

“So as you’ve probably all seen, the City of Perth in their infinite wisdom have decided to reject our NYE show,” write organisers on Origin’s official Facebook page. “We will be working on a replacement venue and will be making a statement shortly. Thanks for your understanding.”

The event, held annually on New Year’s Eve with a lineup featuring a raft of local and international dance, hip-hop, and urban talent, was expected to attract up to 15,000 punters and was even recommended for approval during a council meeting earlier this week.

However, as The West Australian reports, City of Perth councillors opted to put the kibosh on the event’s hopes for securing Wellington Square and say they may review the policy that allows two such events to be held at the city site every year.

“I think we have proven it’s just not working for residents,” said Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi, who echoed the sentiments of local councillors, who claimed that they were concerned about the effect the festival would have no nearby residents.

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Meanwhile, councillor Judy McEvoy said the city has spent a lot of money on an NYE hub in the suburb of Northbridge and “as far as I’m concerned, everyone can go to Northbridge and leave the residents of the city alone. Each time we’ve had a concert (at Wellington Square) there’s been a problem”.

But councillor Rob Butler, who was one of two councillors who voted in favour of the festival going ahead at Wellington Square, said last time a major music festival was held at the site in 2012, council received only six complaints.

The recent occurrences have put Origin organisers in a particularly difficult position as the event had been promoted with Wellington Square as the official location and first-release tickets sold out on Tuesday, just as councillors raised their concerns about the event.

According to The West Australian, Mayor Scaffidi said the issue had been exacerbated by the promoters themselves, who began selling tickets before receiving approval from the local council.

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While the 2013 event was held at the city’s Ozone Reserve, organisers stated that Wellington Square’s central location meant it would “be a breeze to get to and from Origin on a busy night”, despite concerns from WA Police and the Public Transport Authority.

The council’s report said police and the PTA first opposed an “event of this size and nature” at the site on NYE because they would not be able to deal with public transport issues and antisocial or criminal behaviour stemming from the festival.

Organisers subsequently proposed strategies addressing their concerns and the PTA said it could potentially support the event, but WA Police said though they did not give their support, they would attend incidents if required.

Mayor Scaffidi said Wellington Square is located near high-density home units, with little parking and no easy access to public transport. She claimed that though residents are “extremely tolerant” of events, issues such as frequency, clean-up, and antisocial behaviour remain.

This isn’t the first bout of trouble that organisers have run into this year. Last month, Queens rapper Action Bronson, who was set to headline the event, announced that he would be cancelling all of his upcoming Australian tour dates.