By Tim Williams  |  Adelaide Now
LATE night food van festivals, opening the SA Museum and Art Gallery after hours and a market in Bank St have been proposed to diversify Adelaide’s night economy and reduce anti-social behaviour.
Adelaide West End Association says Adelaide needs its own version of the Open Sydney plan, which sets night-time targets such as boosting the number of city users over 40 from 6 per cent to 40 per cent by 2030.
The West End Association’s president Andrew Wallace said Adelaide needed to replicate Sydney’s initiative of more food and cultural activities at night to replace a “drinking monoÂÂ-culture”.
Fork On The Road-style food van festivals were needed late at night “when people really need access to food”, instead of competing with cafes during the day, Mr Wallace said.
The West End could host a late night food festival while Bank St would be “perfect” for a regular night market, he said.
Released earlier this year, the City of Sydney’s plan called for:
EXTENDED museum and gallery opening hours, including an annual “White Night” where major cultural institutions would stay open very late;
LATE-night food markets in parks; relaxed outdoor dining restrictions;
MORE public toilets;
LATER and more frequent public transport, and;
“ANTI-clustering” legislation to prevent large pubs and nightclubs operating side by side.
As well as aiming to broaden the demographic of city users at night, the plan set targets for reducing assaults and anti-social behaviour and “doubling of visitor expenditure per night due to better connections to what’s on and open”.
Adelaide’s Capital City Committee, which heard from City of Sydney representatives at a forum on the early evening economy in April, has made a submission to the State Government’s Citizens’ Jury citing Open Sydney as a leading strategy for cities.
The committee, comprising government and City Council representatives, said the City Council was working on an Adelaide Early Evening Economy strategy that would produce pilot programs by the end of the year.
The Australian Hotels Association, Attorney General’s Department, Victims’ Support Service and Restaurant and Catering SA are among 10 other organisations and individuals to make submissions. The West End Association will finalise its contribution this week.
The not-for-profit newDemocray Foundation is running the 43-member jury, which was randomly selected to represent the community.
The foundation’s executive director Iain Walker said jury members had asked to hear from a range of sources including police “on the beat” and academic experts on alcohol consumption.
