Community Consultation

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Travel Distance (from Sydney):

• Capertee: 3.5 hours, 285 km average
• Matong: 6 hours, 474 km average
• Capertee is 2.5 hours closer to Sydney, where 69% of our NSW-based community lives

Road Quality:

• Capertee: Sealed roads with only 1km of graded access
• Matong: Poor quality unsealed roads requiring extensive maintenance

Site Costs:

• Capertee: $2,000 flat fee plus $10 per person over 500, no maintenance overheads
• Matong: High permit fees plus tens of thousands annually in road maintenance, fire-trail repairs, and environmental compliance

Infrastructure:

• Capertee: Power conduits throughout site, telephone poles for shade structures, back-of-stage shed, firefighting tanker onsite, free storage year-round, early/late access included
• Matong: No standing infrastructure, everything built from scratch annually, limited storage, annual packout required

Medical Access:

• Capertee: Nepean Hospital 3 hours, Rylstone Medical 38 minutes
• Matong: Canberra Hospital 3.5 hours, Wagga Medical 50 minutes

Vehicle Access:

• Capertee: Easy 2WD access, heavy vehicles okay, flood-free
• Matong: Restricted truck access, flood risk, access restrictions

Answer: 

Capertee offers significant built-in infrastructure that would reduce volunteer setup burden:

Power Infrastructure: Electrical conduits are already installed throughout the site, ready for festival power distribution systems to be connected.

Shade Structure Support: Telephone poles are permanently installed across the site, providing ready mounting points for shade structures without requiring temporary pole installation.

Back-of-Stage Shed: A permanent structure available for equipment storage and operations center during the event.

Firefighting Capacity: A firefighting tanker is kept onsite, and the property owner is an ex-RFS captain with strong local Rural Fire Service connections.

Storage Included: Free onsite storage for equipment year-round, eliminating offsite storage costs and transport logistics.

Extended Access: Early setup and late packdown time included in the site agreement, reducing time pressure on volunteers.

This existing infrastructure means volunteers can focus energy on programming, community building, and creative work rather than building basic infrastructure from scratch each year.

Answer: Geographic accessibility is a key concern raised in community surveys, with 70% of respondents indicating that accessibility for Sydney-based participants is very or somewhat important.

Sunburnt Arts has noted that its engaged, responsive community has dramatically shifted toward NSW —69% of participants now come from NSW, up from 32% that Burning Seed saw in 2015. This is not a strategic approach taken by the organisation, rather its potentially a response to the shifting landscape of Eastern Australian burns with many more local burns available for participants.

The current geographic epicenter is Inner Western Sydney. Capertee's location 2.5 hours closer to Sydney directly addresses this shift, potentially:

• Reducing travel fatigue and costs for the majority of our current engaged participants
• Making day trips or shorter stays more feasible
• Lowering barriers for newcomers considering their first event
• Reducing carbon footprint from travel
• Improving safety with better sealed roads

However, we recognise this affects regional participants differently, which is why regional consultation sessions are essential to understanding the full impact. It is our distinct goal to remain an inclusive event, while also recognising that the landscape has changed. 

Answer: Geographic accessibility is a key concern raised in community surveys, with 70% of respondents indicating that accessibility for Sydney-based participants is very or somewhat important.
The community has dramatically shifted toward NSW over the past decade—69% of participants now come from NSW, up from 32% in 2015. The geographic epicenter is Inner Western Sydney.Capertee's location 2.5 hours closer to Sydney directly addresses this shift, potentially:

• Reducing travel fatigue and costs for the majority of participants
• Making day trips or shorter stays more feasible for some families
• Lowering barriers for newcomers considering their first event
• Reducing carbon footprint from travel
• Improving safety with better sealed roads

However, we recognise this affects regional participants differently, which is why regional consultation sessions are essential to understanding the full impact.

Answer: Volunteer sustainability is one of the most critical factors in this decision. The infrastructure differences between sites have significant volunteer impact:

At Matong:

• Everything must be built from scratch annually
• Extensive road and fire-trail maintenance required (tens of thousands of dollars in labor/contractors)
• High setup burden limits capacity for programming and community building
• Maintenance work crowds out creative and cultural activities
• Documented volunteer burnout and retention issues
• Experienced volunteers leaving due to strain
• Innovation constrained by infrastructure needs

At Capertee:

• Existing infrastructure reduces setup burden significantly
• Lower maintenance overhead frees volunteer capacity
• More energy available for programming, community building, and creative work
• Potential to improve volunteer retention by reducing burnout
• Ability to innovate and experiment with community programming

The survey identified volunteer sustainability as a top concern. Capertee's infrastructure could directly address this by reducing the "effort vs. reward" imbalance that contributes to burnout.

Answer: Financial sustainability is critical for our organisation's long-term viability.

Matong's Annual Costs:

• Road maintenance: Tens of thousands of dollars annually for repairs, grading, and drainage
• Fire-trail repairs: Tens of thousands of dollars annually for emergency works and compliance
• Site permit fees: High and rising with no control or ceiling
• Environmental compliance: Mandatory works with increasing requirements
• Full temporary infrastructure: High costs to build everything annually
• These costs have no ceiling and continue to rise each year

Capertee's Cost Structure:

• $2,000 flat site fee plus $10 per person over 500
• No maintenance overheads
• Existing infrastructure reduces build costs
• Free storage eliminates offsite storage fees
• Predictable, controllable costs that enable financial planning
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What This Means: Moving to Capertee could provide 2-3 years of financial breathing room to build organisational resilience, accumulate reserves, invest in community programmes, enable innovation and experimentation, and make decisions from strength rather than crisis.

The financial difference would allow us to redirect resources from maintenance and repairs into community programming, accessibility improvements, and cultural development.

Answer: The recent community survey identified five top priorities. Here's how Capertee directly addresses them:

1. Strong NSW Community (83% priority): Capertee is located in NSW and is 2.5 hours closer to the 69% of community members who are NSW-based, strengthening local participation.

2. Financial Sustainability (High priority): The $2,000 flat fee versus tens of thousands in annual maintenance enables 2-3 years of financial recovery and stability.

3. Accessibility (70% want Sydney accessibility): 3.5 hours versus 6 hours from Sydney, 285km versus 474km average distance, better sealed roads improve access for the majority.

4. Community & Connection (76% priority): More volunteer capacity freed for programming and community building instead of infrastructure maintenance allows focus on connection.

5. Existing Infrastructure (High priority): Power conduits, shade poles, back-of-stage shed, firefighting tanker onsite, storage included, and early/late access reduce volunteer burden.

Answer: We're committed to transparency about both opportunities and challenges:

Capertee's Manageable Unknowns:

• Learning curve with new site
• DA (Development Application) requirements and approval processes
• Community acceptance of change
• Site capacity and layout optimisation

Mitigations We're Planning:

• Site visits for community familiarisation before the event
• Property owner has festival experience and supportive relationship
• Survey data shows strong community support for addressing current challenges
• Similar events at Capertee have successfully hosted 7,000+ people

Matong's Known, Worsening Problems:

• Rising costs with no ceiling or control
• Volunteer burnout accelerating
• Infrastructure burden increasing
• Environmental compliance requirements expanding
• Road quality deteriorating

The consultation will help us understand whether Capertee's manageable unknowns are preferable to Matong's known, worsening challenges.

Answer: Emergency preparedness and medical access are critical safety considerations:

Capertee's Emergency Access:

• Nepean Hospital: 3 hours
• Rylstone Medical Center: 38 minutes
• Better sealed road access improves emergency vehicle response times
• Firefighting tanker onsite with ex-RFS captain owner
• Strong local Rural Fire Service relationships
• Flood-free site eliminates evacuation risks

Matong's Emergency Access:

• Canberra Hospital: 3.5 hours
• Wagga Medical: 50 minutes
• Poor road quality can delay emergency response
• Flood risk creates potential access restrictions
• Remote location complicates emergency coordination

Shorter travel distances to medical facilities, better road conditions for emergency vehicles, and flood-free site access all improve safety margins at Capertee.

Answer: Our history and cultural legacy are precious. After 15 years at Matong State Forest, we recognise the deep significance of that place in building our community and tradition. We're committed to:

• Honoring Burning Seed legacy and those who built it over years at Matong
• Cyclical model exploration to maintain physical and spiritual connection to Matong
• Cultural continuity practices that travel with us regardless of location
• Legacy recognition including documentation and commemoration of Matong's significance
• Shared values preservation ensuring participation, immediacy, and radical self-expression continue

Culture is made by people as well as the places— we recognise place matters, which is why the cyclical model is central to our thinking. This is a strategic bridge to sustainability, not permanent abandonment of Matong.

Answer: We recognise change can create division. Our approach to maintaining cohesion includes transparent and inclusive consultation where all voices are heard, acknowledgment of all perspectives including those who disagree, consensus-building where possible, respectful disagreement management, Change Champions network for peer support, and regular community check-ins.

Survey data showed concerning gaps in our community ecosystem, particularly 31% feeling disconnected and challenges with communication and inclusion. This consultation is designed to rebuild trust and connection through genuine participation in decision-making.

Answer: Healthy communities can navigate disagreement. We commit to:

• Hearing all voices, not just the loudest
• Acknowledging dissenting views explicitly in decision documentation
• Providing support for everyone through the outcome, regardless of their position
• Creating space for ongoing dialogue and adjustment
• Focusing on shared values that unite us even when we disagree on tactics

The goal isn't unanimous agreement—it's legitimate process, transparent decision-making, and community support through whatever we decide together.

Answer: The burning landscape has changed, and we're responding to the community that's actively engaged right now.

While Burning Seed has always been a national Australian regional burn and we remain committed to that vision, we'd be remiss not to acknowledge that our currently engaged participant base is more NSW-centric than in previous years. The consultation process reflects who has shown up, stayed connected, and is actively contributing to rebuilding.

This doesn't mean we're closing doors to interstate participants - far from it. But it does mean:

• Our timing and planning decisions are being informed by the camps and individuals who are here and engaged now
• We're not making decisions based on hypothetical interstate participation that may or may not materialise
• We're building from where we actually are, not where we wish we were - while continuing to reach out to everyone that's got a connection to us

The reality is that some interstate participants have moved on to their own local burns, life circumstances have changed, or the gap since the last event has been too long. That's natural and okay.

For interstate burners who want to be part of Sunburnt Arts' future: you are absolutely welcome and valued. The national character of our community remains part of our identity. But we also need to be realistic and responsive to who is actually doing the work and showing up to planning conversations.

As the event re-establishes itself, we hope to rebuild in all ways. But right now, we're focused on delivering something achievable with the committed community we have, rather than overextending based on past participation patterns that may no longer reflect current reality.

If you're interstate and want to be part of shaping this, now is the time to engage.

Answer: This is still being discussed within the community.

The organisation is now called Sunburnt Arts, reflecting our broader mission beyond just the main burn event. However, the question of what to call the event itself remains open.

Some considerations in the conversation:

Arguments for a new name:

• Signals a fresh start and new chapter while honouring the past
• Sets appropriate expectations that the first event may be smaller or different than previous years
• The "Seed Embers" suggestion from community consultation captured this idea - symbolising "the beginning of another fire" rather than trying to immediately recreate what was
• Allows the event to evolve without the weight of direct comparison

Arguments for keeping Burning Seed:

• Strong brand recognition and emotional connection within the community
• It's still fundamentally the same event, same values, same community
• Changing the name might confuse people or make it harder for past participants to find us
• The name still reflects our identity as Australia's original regional burn

The reality: We're listening to community input on this. What's most important is that the event delivers on the values and experience that made Burning Seed special. 

Whether it carries the Burning Seed name or evolves into something new, the spirit remains the same.

If you have strong feelings about this, we want to hear them. This is exactly the kind of decision the community should help shape.

Answer: This is an unfortunate reality of the current landscape - the Australian regional burn calendar is much busier now than it was in Burning Seed's early years.

We can't avoid all conflicts. With camps running their own events, multiple regional burns across the country, and various community gatherings throughout the year, finding a date that works for everyone is impossible.

Our approach:

• We're giving as much advance notice as possible so people can plan
• We're prioritising dates that work for the majority of actively engaged participants
• We're trying to avoid direct clashes with other major regional burns where feasible
• We're spacing our event to allow camps reasonable time between major commitments (generally 4-6 months minimum)

The reality: If there's a clash with another event you're committed to, you'll need to make a choice about which to prioritise. That's not ideal, but it's part of how the community has evolved. Some people will miss some events, and that's okay.

We'd rather have an event that some people can't attend due to scheduling than no event at all because we're paralysed trying to find the "perfect" date.

If you have concerns about a specific clash, let us know. We can't accommodate everyone, but we want to understand the landscape we're working within.