Now it has emerged that One Cube’s collective of funky young promoters had little control over the event’s fate for which “production and transport issues” were cited.
The inaugural festival, featuring Australian DJ/producer Will Sparks, dance music group Yolanda Be Cool and more, was abandoned just six hours before its intended starting time at the theme park in the city's west, reportedly leaving 9,000 ticket-holders high and dry.
But an investigation by The Sun-Herald has revealed the reason for the festival’s cancellation was more to do with NSW Police claims “the venue failed to provide an adequate crowd safety management plan to police.”
The newspaper quotes a senior NSW Police source as saying that police had “deep concerns” about security after undergoing a “risk assessment”.
NSW Fair Trading was also reportedly investigating the tender process for the security contract at Wet ’n’ Wild after it was awarded to Unimet Security, reportedly a company with close links to Wet ’n’ Wild’s security supervisor Brad Kisbee.
Meanwhile, Mr Kisbee is quoted in the report as saying: “Village Roadshow has told me not to speak further. But when my contract is up in April, I’ll give the full story.’’
The Sun-Herald reports that Mr Kisbee resigned from Wet'n'Wild after it emerged investigators from the NSW police State Crime Command were reviewing issues relating to appointment of the security contractor at the $120 million venue.
According to the newspaper, Mr Kisbee had been involved with Natalie Eggenhuizen's Unimet business for years but other than acknowledging a brief stint of casual consultancy work carried out by Mr Kisbee ''some time ago'', the pair has continued to deny they are linked.
“But they are in a de facto relationship and live together in Richmond with two children,” the newspaper says.
One Cube began refunding tickets early last month and issued an apology on its website to ticket buyers last week, saying “We would like to sincerely apologise to the ticket holders of NYE at Wet n Wild.”
