Consultation with the community has led to an application from the Garden of Unearthly Delights and Gluttony to spill onto Rundle Road during next year’s festival period being withdrawn.

The event organisers would have expanded onto the thoroughfare to build two large venues that could seat 800 and 1000 people if the plan went ahead.

Of the 175 total submissions to Council following a three-week consultation period with residents and traders in the City of Adelaide as well as the City of Norwood, Payneham & St Peters, 92 were in favour while 77 did not support Rundle Road’s closure. The remaining six were neutral.

Despite the majority of submissions supporting the proposal, festival organisers still pulled the plug.

“We want to be good neighbours and we want to be neighbours for a long time, with that in mind we have listened to people’s concerns and withdrawn from our application to use Rundle Road,” Gluttony director Daniel Michael said.

“We do however think we can explain ourselves better to the residents and businesses and with that in mind we will continue to engage with them over the coming year to come up with solutions that work better for everyone in the long term.”

Under the initial proposal, Rundle Road would have been closed to traffic and street parking from 7 February to 21 March 2024 in order to build venues to house “unique national and international performances”.

It would have also allowed the Fringe Corner Box office to move into a central position to “enable greater accessibility for audiences” and “deliver a quiet space and change facility for those with mobility access needs and neuro-divergent audiences”.

As part of that proposal, organisers noted it would have cost council $76,000 in lost parking revenue during the six-week closure.

The bid was considered by a council committee in July, at which Central Ward councillor Simon Hou moved to immediately block the request.

“Closing Rundle Road for such a long period is an epic cost that goes beyond what we can already offer,” he said at the meeting.

“Perhaps most importantly, I want to highlight that the potential… worse effects of the proposed road closure on our local businesses and residents in the East End area.

“In principle, a closed road might seem beneficial to some, but we cannot forget the negative impact it will have on the others.”

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said today that festival organisers “acted responsibly” in listening to the community feedback.

“We asked people for their opinion on the proposal, they have provided their thoughts and the applicant has acted responsibly,” she said.

“As a Council, we listen and take onboard feedback from the community, so I would like to thank people for taking the time to assess the application and provide detailed opinions.”

Fringe director Heather Croall did not rule out making a future attempt to close Rundle Road.

“With the public response resulting in so much positive feedback, we really hope we can make this a reality in the future, ensuring we address concerns raised throughout a refreshed consultation period ahead of Fringe 2025,” she said.

Rundle Road will continue to be closed on Friday and Saturday nights and on Sundays during the 2024 Fringe Festival as part of the ‘East End Unleashed’ program.