By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
NOT-FOR-PROFIT community organisations in Casey will no longer have to pay permit fees when hosting a public event.
The recommendation was passed by the City of Casey last month which will see Place of Public Entertainment (POPE) permit fees waived for not-for-profit community groups.
The development comes after council resolved in September to address the administration of POPE permits and waived fees in the interim for “genuine” not-for-profit groups.
Hampton Park Networking Group treasurer Vanassa Gerdes sought out Councillor Wayne Smith to address the issue after her group kept being charged to hold free events.
“Every time we ran a free event for the community, we had to pay for this permit. The council would bill us for a free event,” she said.
“We ran a fashion show and it was considered ‘entertainment’ by council, so we needed a POPE permit. At the Hampton Park community festival, we had Santa Claus visit and that was also classified as ‘entertainment’.
“It seemed like a lot of rigmarole for something we were doing for free.”
Ms Gerdes also said there was an inordinate amount of paperwork needed to receive a POPE permit.
“Our volunteers are rapt that POPE permits will be waived for not-for-profit groups, there was so much paperwork and it puts a lot of strain on them,” she said.
“We knew we could lose our volunteers over this issue.”
Cr Smith agreed with the complaints he had received from many people in the Casey community regarding POPE permits.
“We’re all caution of occupational health and safety but it was getting crazy,” he said.
Cr Smith also said the POPE system had caused confusion state-wide, prompting the State Government to introduce amendments to the Building Regulations 2006.
Under these revised regulations events organised by a “community-based organisation” may be run without the need to obtain a POPE permit, but other regulatory provisions may still apply.
