Tamworth Anzac Day capacity drastically drops, locals asked to stay home

The sub-branch and Tamworth Regional Council have agreed to drop the capacity numbers from 3000 locals to 1000 for the dawn service, and reduce the main commemorative service even further to just 600.

In light of this change, sub-branch president Jayne McCarthy is asking residents pay their respects at home by "lighting up the dawn" like last year.

"We respectfully request the community's understanding and to consider their own health and wellbeing in deciding whether to come or not," she said.

"I would hope that the community is understanding.

"They can still pay their respects at dawn, it just doesn't all have to be in the one location."

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She said it all came back to COVID restrictions.

"If we have an event, we're responsible for the crowd, and we don't have the resources to manage the COVID regulations around a crowd," Ms McCarthy told the Leader.

"It just comes back to the logistics and the responsibilities and how it's managed and resources, and these things don't just happen by magic."

There won't be a march this year, either. Instead, veterans will have the chance to "walk" in a private event, with no crowds or school marchers involved.

There will be COVID check-ins at all ceremonies, and the main commemorative service will be a ticketed event.

Ms McCarthy said the sub-branch was still working out how the ticketing system would work.

They've been in discussions with the council on where fencing and check-in points would be at Anzac Park, and she said they would be handing in a final plan on Tuesday.

"We're extremely grateful to the council for their guidance and support, we could not have done it without them," she said.

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