New Lord Mayor Martin Haese has hammered out a compromise deal with controversial Fringe venue, the Royal Croquet Club, which will see it go ahead in a hugely expanded form in 2015.

Haese, who slammed the Victoria Square venue during the council election campaign, has been closely involved in brokering the new deal, which will see restrictions on proposed trading hours and the size of bar areas.

InDaily can exclusively report that parties came to an in-principle agreement yesterday which will see the Fringe festival gain a new foothold over the central part of the city.

The Royal Croquet Club, which started last year, will almost double its physical size and could cater for 250,000 patrons over 28 days. Last year it had nearly 28,000 tickets on sale; in 2015 more than 170,000 show tickets will be available.

The number of Fringe venues inside the Club will be doubled to six, including a 600-seat venue and a 400-seat music club, with more than 6,000 tickets available each day.

To address the concerns of local businesses, the proposed trading hours have been trimmed from 3am on Fridays and Saturdays to 2am; and from 3am to midnight from Tuesday to Thursdays and on Sundays. The organisers will also impose a lock-out after 1am.

An entry fee will only be imposed after 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights and the Sunday of the public holiday.

Before he was elected Lord Mayor, Haese expressed deep concerns about the Royal Croquet Club and its impact on local businesses, saying that transient operators such as the Club “come in and take the cream off the cake”.

The comments caused club operator Stuart Duckworth, who has been in negotiations with the council since July, to question whether his venue had a future.

As soon as he was elected, and even before he was sworn in, Haese inserted himself into negotiations and he now says he’s happy that the operating conditions strike the correct balance.

He denies he ever wanted the venue to close down.

“Not for a second would I want this knocked over – emphatically,” he told InDaily. “This is good for Adelaide.”

In fact, he believes the Royal Croquet Club could now bring the Fringe’s benefits to a new part of the city, similar to the spin-offs enjoyed by East End businesses as a result of patrons flocking to the Garden of Unearthly Delights and other East End venues.

“The growth of the Fringe is good for Adelaide,” he said. “There’s a bigger picture associated with this: this event provides the Adelaide Fringe Incorporated  the capacity to grow.

“That means that we’re going to provide more shows, more artists …. more places to showcase their work. We hope this trickles down to more people coming to the Fringe.

“If we can grow tourism as a result of growing a bigger footprint for the Fringe that will help everybody. That will keep our restaurants full, that will keep our pubs, clubs and bars full; keep our cafes full. That will keep our venues full, because if it’s not commercially viable for them they won’t come back either.”

He said the new conditions meant the the Royal Croquet Club was now a Fringe venue first, and a bar second.

“You’ll have a feel that you’re walking into a Fringe venue where you can buy a drink – not you’re going into a bar where you can see a Fringe venue, and that’s a critical difference.”

Haese said the venue would also have a greater day-time focus, meaning there would be a new opportunity for local cafes and restaurants to attract business.

Before the deal was brokered, Duckworth insisted that the venue would be different in 2015, with a greater focus on Fringe events.

Fringe boss Greg Clarke made similar points.

Today, a relieved Duckworth said the agreement had been months in the making.

“Comments have been taken out of context – this perception that the argument is about one or the other,” he said. “That’s not the case – it was good to clear the air, good to know where Martin stands. He has a duty to support all business rather than one or the other.”

He said Haese “wanted to be reassured that we’re not doing this at the expense of anyone else”.

“It was really good to have a chat and I’m looking forward to meeting with him again in the future,” he said.

Haese says he can’t promise the new deal is “perfect”, but he would continue to talk to traders and review the Croquet Club’s impact during and following the Fringe.

Key points in the deal

• Will run for the full 28 days of the Fringe, compared to 19 days in 2014.

• Capacity 5,000 (same as 2014)

• Footprint 15,000m2, up from 9,000m2 in 2014 to accommodate new performance spaces.

• Six Fringe venues compared to three in 2014.

• Tickets on sale – more than 170,000 compared to 27,894 in 2014.

• Expected attendance of 250,000, with an expected 70% attending ticketed Fringe shows.

• Closing hours: Friday and Saturday 2am with main act to be finished by midnight; Tue – Thur and Sun (excluding public holidays) midnight.

• Panama Social Club: a new 400-seat venue, will finish at 2am, with a noise bond applied. Self- imposed lock out of 1am Friday and Saturday.

• Entry fee : $5 after 7pm on Friday and Saturday nights only and Sunday of the Public Holiday.

• Road closure:  – Reconciliation Plaza closed 7pm Friday-7am Saturday, then closed 2pm Saturday – 7am Monday.

• Site access: Access to the majority of the Square at all times

 – additional reporting by Fletcher Doherty