NEIGHBOURS of a disfigured King Edward Park say it was an inappropriate location to stage The Drop music festival, disagreeing with the City of Newcastle's claims the "economic boost" to the city "far outweighs" the need for remediation.
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The Drop drew about 6000 attendees when it was held on Saturday at King Edward Park to coincide with the penultimate day of the World Surf League qualifying series contests at Merewether Beach.
It was the first time the festival's national tour has included Newcastle.
A spokesperson for the council said it was assessing the state of grassed areas at the park and Camp Shortland - which hosted Live at the Foreshore on Saturday and Up Down Festival on Sunday - but hailed the events "a success".
Much of the park's flat section, where the stage was located, was devoid of grass and slippery with mud on Monday, as was some of the sloping section where the entry and toilets were located, parallel to The Terrace.
"The economic boost for the city from these events far outweighs the need to remediate sections of turf, the costs of which will be borne by the organisers," the spokesperson said.
"The community can rest assured knowing the parks will be returned to a better condition than they were before Saturday. Remediation should take no longer than a few weeks if good weather ensues.
"To help limit any further damage, the city will work with the promoters to ensure that the impact to the grounds is minimised during bump-out to allow the grounds to dry out before heavy vehicles finish removing equipment.
"This will include the option to extend the festival promoters' license to the end of the week as conditions require."
Friends of King Edward Park spokesperson Dr Kim Ostinga said group members "weren't upset at people using the park and enjoying it - quite the contrary", but it wasn't an appropriate place for the festival.
"It required heavy equipment on big trucks - there are no roads in there, they just had to drive across the grass," he said.
"It has damaged the park. It's going to take months to recover and it's going to be at some expense.
"It looks disgraceful, appalling and like a mud bath.
"There are deep furrows where truck tyres skidded. It's been badly scarred.
"If the council has made money out of this it would be nice if some of it went back into the park.
"This is not about 'not in my backyard'. It's the council's backyard, it's everybody's backyard and we should look after it."
The council said it started community consultation about the festival on December 1, 2018, and this included notices in letterboxes in the surrounding suburb, an advertisement in the Newcastle Herald and signage at the site.
But Dr Ostinga said he doesn't know of a single person who received a notice in their letterbox.