Water slide sells Brisbane tickets before permit issued
Tickets for a water slide event in Brisbane – with links to the controversial New Zealand attraction – are being sold before the necessary permits have been issued.
Monster Slide Australia Tour 2015 session passes are for sale online ahead of the three-day event scheduled to begin on April 3.
However, the Brisbane City Council said the giant slip’n’slide course still had not been granted permits.
The company running the Australian event, Monster Slide Australia, is confident it will get approval.
It is associated with Monster Slide in New Zealand which was operated by Trill Productions and its director Jamie Templeton.
Both companies are listed on the Monster Slide website and Templeton is named in documents as being involved in both entities.
Monster Slide left hundreds of unhappy Kiwi customers demanding refunds. Queues more than three hours long and serious injuries to some sliders plagued the events, and the Dunedin leg was cancelled because of a lack of sales.
Contractors owed money have expressed frustration in dealing with Templeton.
A Brisbane City Council spokeswoman said an application from Monster Slide to stage the event was still under consideration.
She said it would go ahead only if the council’s ‘‘requirements are satisfactorily met’’.
‘‘The event would require a Road Closure Certificate and Entertainment Event Permit, which have not been granted at this time.’’
Monster Slide Australia operations director Hannah Lockett said she was confident the event would go ahead.
‘‘The event is still in the final stages of getting its permit, however it’s important to note we have done months of research and planning and are working closely with the council on this and it is completely common for events to go on sale during these final stages.’’
A coding ‘‘glitch’’ on the ticketing agency website accidentally advertised ticket sales, she said. That would be rectified.
Lockett said tickets were available only to ‘‘private members’’ who registered last year, and the event would ‘‘go public’’ if and when it gained council approval.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission documents show Templeton owns 50 per cent of the shares in Monster Slide Australia.