As the venue at Joe's Farm had been granted a 10-year consent to hold festivals and events, organiser Clayton Spence was excited to make it an annual fixture.
But Spence says he's been told the festival can't go ahead this year and is confused as to what went wrong.
Joe's Farm told Spence in emails seen by the Herald that it had decided against hosting the festival this New Year's Eve, citing a "breakdown in the relationship" between the venue, the Thames-Coromandel District Council and Spence himself.
Spence, who owns event management company Nikau Rhythm, said the situation was "weird".
After last year's festival, which Nikau Rhythm said raked in around $3 million and employed more than 1000 people, Spence told the Herald the council notified him of alleged resource consent breaches at the event.
"[It was alleged] that we ran out of water, for example. But we had tankers leaving after the festival with thousands of gallons left over," he explained.
"We had minimal drug-related issues, two arrests, no one was hospitalised for drugs. But we ticked all the boxes, signed everything off. We've had only positive feedback from the community."
Spence said he replied to the list of alleged breaches and offered to submit a new event plan for the festival, but then received an email from Joe's Farm telling him not to contact the council about the resource consent.
Festival organiser Clayton Spence can't understand why his event can't go ahead this year. Photo / File
The council addressed the breaches by choosing not to seek a review as none of them were at a level requiring a regulatory review process, he said.
The farm then said it would not be opening for a New Year's Event this year, saying it would be the best solution to rebuild relationships with the council, police and neighbours.
Spence said it was too late to look at another venue for the event as the resource consent process was so time-consuming.
Joe's Farm, which appears to be temporarily closed, is owned by Onemana rural fire chief Jo Adams. The Herald has approached Adams but he and a lawyer for Joe's Farm did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for the Thames-Coromandel District Council told the Herald the situation was "not a council issue".
"Joe's Farm has been granted a resource consent to hold up to six festivals/events per year for the next 10 years.
