Acclaimed Scottish music festival T In The Park has announced that it will be taking a break this year, as its new location and site restrictions led to limitations that organizers feel are too great to ignore. In a statement posted to the festival’s official site, however, the organizers revealed one of the most curious reasons for the event’s temporary cancellation.
According to the statement, an osprey nest was found on site that is legally protected from being tampered with. They said that they would have to apply for full Planning Permission to deal with the unregistered nest, but that the financial and logistical cost of doing so would be too much for them to work with.
“We now need to take stock and take a year out to try to resolve the issues so that we can once again deliver the kind of camping festival you are used to and deserve.”
After moving to a new location last year for the first time since the festival’s founding in 1994, attendees experienced severe traffic problems in and around the venue. Despite the addition of a brand new team and a focus toward solving the issues of last year, however, T In The Park said that it is not in total control of overall site layout.
Read the full statement below, and check further down for a recap video of some of the best moments from the festival’s history.
For over 23 years, T in the Park has been at the heart of Scotland’s music scene – with you, by our side. But for now, sadly, we need to take a break. We launched T in the Park with one aim: to give Scottish music fans an unforgettable weekend with their friends enjoying the best acts from around the globe. And to say we achieved this together is an understatement. T in the Park has become one of the best known, biggest and most loved festivals in the world. When we launched back in 1994 there were only two music festivals in the UK – now there are many and T in the Park paved the way for all that have come and gone in Scotland since. We created more than just a festival; we created a family and decades of wonderful memories.
However, the last couple of years have had their challenges. Against our will, and despite a prolonged fight, we were forced to move from Balado, Kinross in 2015. This move was a mammoth task for the event and one that was compounded by a series of onerous site restrictions placed upon us as preparations for the event in 2015 took place.
As the build up to the festival was well underway we were informed by Scottish Government Ministers that we would have to apply for full Planning Permission due to the presence of an unregistered, but protected in law, osprey’s nest. The constraints – logistically and financially – that the resulting planning conditions put upon us are simply not workable. We tried our best to work with the pressures placed upon the site by bringing in an additional team and fixing the first year traffic issues, but ultimately we’re not in control of the overall site layout and the continued restrictions means that the negative impact on our fans and the limitations placed on their experience is too great. We now need to take stock and take a year out to try to resolve the issues so that we can once again deliver the kind of camping festival you are used to and deserve.
Until next time…
T In The Park
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FquY6MGXg8w
Source: BBC | Image: ScotCampus.com
