Loose rules for Adelaide Oval Village Green events push by govt

Adelaide Oval’s under-utilised Village Green event space is being held back by overly strict rules imposed by Adelaide City Council, the state government says.

In a letter to the council last month, Planning Minister Nick Champion backed a request from Adelaide Oval management to loosen restrictions on events at the venue.

These included lifting a 15,000 person attendance limit, scrapping a ban on multi-day events and overturning a rule mandating audio equipment faces only south, towards the CBD.

Adelaide City Council voted in November 2025 to dismiss the Oval’s request, but the council – prompted by Minister Champion’s intervention – will reconsider the matter at a meeting on Tuesday night.

A state government spokesman said events at the venue were “being held back by outdated council restrictions”.

“It’s disappointing that the Adelaide City Council is actively opposing events at this venue, which would activate the city and generate economic activity and revenue for the council,” he said.

The stoush represents another flare-up in tensions between the council and state government over events in the Adelaide Park Lands, as the two trade barbs over plans for a MotoGP street circuit and the redevelopment of North Adelaide Golf Course.

The Village Green, also known as Adelaide Oval 2, sits behind the oval’s north gate along Montefiore Rd, within the oval precinct – a part of the Park Lands.

On Tuesday night, the council will decide whether the public should be consulted on the requested loosening of rules.

Ahead of the meeting, Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said: “I am inclined to think it reasonable that we consult on the option that proposes change, otherwise we can’t properly know what the community thinks.”

The ban on holding events at the Village Green on consecutive days applies only to stand-alone events – not those forming part of events at the stadium, such as cricket tests.

A 2017 Midnight Oil concert and a 2022 Icehouse concert are among the few stand-alone events to have been held at the space, as the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority (AOSMA) pushes for the looser rules to allow it to be used more.

A spokesman for AOSMA said it wanted “to be able to host more events” and was “working collaboratively with Adelaide City Council to discuss the limitations of the current management plan”.

Councillor Keiran Snape said his main concern was keeping sound equipment facing towards the city.

“I think it’s reasonable for the local residents to have that sound equipment facing towards the city, as opposed to towards people’s houses, just to help reduce the noise issues,” he said.

It’s understood removing this restriction would open up the space’s northern end for concert viewing, increasing its capacity.

Australian Hotels Association SA chief executive Anna Moeller said the council needed to “start adopting, quite frankly, a can-do approach to things”.

“How can we make these things happen? What can they do to facilitate the growth of this state?” she said.