It is with heavy hearts that we announce the cancellation of Kiwiburn 2019.

Kiwiburn has submitted a resource consent application to the Rangitikei District Council which is still with the Council and unfortunately will not be processed in time to hold the 2019 event.

The main factor slowing the consent process is the noise Kiwiburn creates and the impact that has on the local community. It is very important for Kiwiburn to have a positive relationship with the local community, so we are actively seeking ways to assure them that the event will not have a negative impact. Balancing this with the wants and realities of what Kiwiburn is and wants to be makes it unwise to rush this process, meaning agreeing to Council noise conditions which are not achievable would massively change the nature of Kiwiburn. We are applying for a 10 year resource consent, so any sound conditions agreed to now would have to be adhered to for that time. Our team will take the time to negotiate reasonable and achievable noise conditions ensuring Kiwiburn can continue well into the future.

The application process could take weeks or months. Regardless, the deadline has been reached to be able to organise and plan a safe, successful event for 2019 within a workable timeframe. The Kiwiburn Executive Committee (ExCom) agreed, during the late May Summit, that mid-July was a realistic deadline to decide whether or not the 2019 event could go ahead, based on receiving the all clear from the Council. Having now passed that by three weeks, the decision could not be delayed any longer.

Our expert Planner and Acoustician, together with members of the Kiwiburn Operations team and ExCom, have come to the agreement that it is unfeasible to hold Kiwiburn in 2019. We hope that you all understand our decision – please know this decision has not been made lightly and all possible options and outcomes have been considered.

What happens now? Negotiations with the Council planner will continue with our team working with them to reach a compromise which is both reasonable and achievable. And the ExCom and Team Leads will be directing their energy to Kiwiburn 2020 and beyond.

We appreciate your frustration at the lack of information over the past months and thank you for your patience. The ExCom did not release details regarding the status of the application on public forums to help mitigate information being misconstrued in public discussions, as well as the potential for it to have a detrimental effect on our application.

While we encourage the Kiwiburn community to organise their own local events, please note there will NOT be any kind of event held on the Kiwiburn site. For anyone considering holding associated events within the Rangitikei District, please be mindful of how it could jeopardise Kiwiburn’s resource consent application. Please note, use of the word Kiwiburn is prohibited by all events outside of Kiwiburn Incorporated.

We hope many positive things will come from this decision and encourage you all to think of what you can do within your local community to ignite the Burner spirit, and prepare for Kiwiburn 2020.

Thank you for your patience,

ExCom and Operations