Peter Noble has run the Blues Fest with Michael Chugg since 2004 when the Oxley’s sold the Festival they started a decade earlier. Controversy has dogged the festival for years, as it has outgrown first the Arts Factory and secondly, the Red Devil sports ground.
In February 2005, it emerged that the new owners had commenced negotiations to purchase a flood prone tea tree farm in Tyagrah. A wide range of high profile commentators and locals, including Professor Robert Waldersee, publisher Kali Wendorf, neighbour and entrepeneur Dieter Horsman got in on the action, raising the temperature of the debate.
At heart is the issue of how the community sees its cultural identity. A quick Google, or scan of the logs of the Tyagrah development association, reveals opinions as passionate as they are wide ranging.
The Generator thought it worth getting the point of view of the man in the middle and invited Peter Noble onto the program. The rest, as they say, is history. For reasons known only to himself, Mr Noble declined to take the opportunity to respond to his critics and left the studio. The full fifteen minute interview is available for your listening pleasure, or you may be satisfied with the last three minutes. You can purchase a CD containing both versions of the interview from The One Stop Green Shop.