Are you entitled to compensation from the municipality if you are inconvenienced one day a year by a music festival in the immediate vicinity of your home? The Division answered this question in a ruling today.
The case concerns a local resident of the annual dance and music event Emporium in the Berendonck in Wijchen. The resident is so inconvenienced by this annual event that he has asked the mayor for compensation. According to the local resident, visitors to the festival cause nuisance because they walk to and from the event site via a road in the immediate vicinity of his home. The mayor denied the request for disadvantage compensation.
Normal social risk
A request for disadvantage compensation can only claim compensation for damages that exceed the normal social risk that every citizen should bear. How great the normal social risk is should be determined taking into account the circumstances of the case.
Judgment court
The court finds that the applicant is disproportionately affected because he is the only one facing nuisance as a result of the event. The court finds that this nuisance is such that it finds the disadvantage compensation of €400 proposed by the applicant (!) reasonable and awards it.
The mayor is appealing that ruling.
Appeal
The Division rules that damage caused by a one-day music festival is not eligible for compensation in this case because this event and the accompanying permits are in line with expectations. The impairment of residential enjoyment for the duration of one day per year and alleged accompanying damage do not give the Division reason to rule that the damage does not fall within the normal social risk.
The Division adds that even if the applicant were actually the only one experiencing nuisance to this extent, the harm experienced is not so severe that he is entitled to compensation for harm.
Of interest to event organizers
The Division's ruling is not surprising from a legal perspective. However, the ruling is important for event organizers.
The ruling by the Gelderland court in fact meant that local residents who experience nuisance from a one-day festival can sue the municipality for loss compensation. It can certainly not be ruled out that municipalities will become more reluctant to grant permits for such events. Moreover, municipalities will try to shift the risks and costs associated with loss compensation claims to the organizers. This could have a major impact on the financial viability of events.
Through this ruling, the Division has ensured that municipalities and organizers do not have to fear compensation claims simply because of a one-day music festival.
