Disclaimer:

I am in no way affiliated with BW campgrounds or RnV. This is not an attack on the campground or festival but is a means to constructively portray our views on the changes coming to BW this year. This petition is aimed at getting the best for the festival and to alert the organisers and others involved of the distress caused by the changes.

More Info: http://www.gisborneherald.co.nz/article/?id=38791

In light of BW's recent announcement, that they have obtained the license required to sell alcohol and will no longer be allowing BYO, I have decided to begin a petition against it. Why?

- We are old enough to make our own decisions, that should include letting us decide how much we have to drink (everywhere else we have this right).

- The price; BW are giving themselves a monopoly, they'll be able to charge what they want. Don't come back to me and say they won't, because they'll charge twice as much if not more.

How do I know? To keep people from getting drunk you need to take away their access to alcohol, what better way than making it more expensive?

- The local economy, the Gisbourne liquor stores and supermarkets prior to the big change were the sole suppliers of alcohol to event goers; with such a large change to the licensing you can be assured that the stores will suffer because of it. I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I spent $30 a day on alcohol, $30 times 5 days’ time 10,000 campers = $1,500,000, that's a big dent to the liquor stores.

- As pointed out by a few people, we can only imagine the horror that will be the queue lines for the alcohol, more time will be spent in line than with your mates. Come on 2013ers we remember the atrocity that was the bus fare last year.

- Drugs; Already a large problem at RnV and BW, but this year you can count on them being even worse. Illicit substances will be go to for the five days that make up the festival, for the first time ever at RnV they'll provide a cheaper buzz than alcohol.

- For those of you coming from the South Island or even further afield, this is just another expense, really feeling for you guys, come on BW step up.

- Finally the most important point is the fact that they have made this announcement only 3 months out from the festival. AFTER everyone has bought their tickets. We understand that the changes made by the campground were forced upon them by other entities, however we feel that bw did not do enough to inform perspective customers that these changes were likely to occur.

There is no way this should stand, those of us who purchased tickets had the belief that we would be allowed to bring our own alcohol to the event. With such a massive change, compensation should be given. Here is a list of what should be given if the licensing isn’t changed back:

- Drinks at supermarket prices

- Enough Vendors so that lines aren’t huge

- Cans not cups

- No time restrictions on purchasing of alcohol

- An apology letter from BW campgrounds and RnV admitting that they did not do enough to inform perspective customers of the rule changes that were almost certain to occur.

Some more number crunching: Assuming everyone buys their cheapest drink which is a cheap beer at $2.50...

The average lad at BW would have about 22 beers a day if not more (I know quite a few that averaged above 30), but assuming 22:

22 * 2.50 = $55, $55 over five days = $275, that's alot of money spent on alcohol especially considering that is toward the lower end of the scale, chances are you'll want to buy something a bit nicer maybe than their cheapest beer. Also you'll probably want to have more than 22 beers a day, it is RnV after all.