Pop-up chaos

Greater control over concerts at The Spit is pivotal to ensuring harmonious future events

The Spit is undoubtedly a much-loved recreational area for the entire Gold Coast. People use it every day for walks, taking in nature, surfing and various water activities.

And when it comes to concerts and festivals, the Spit has many natural advantages that are attractive to promoters.

There are not too many places on the Gold Coast where you can play loud, thumping music for hours on end and not upset the neighbours.

In saying that, Doug Jennings Park, where these gigs are staged, has some rather large disadvantages.

When people complain about the gridlock caused by traffic trying to get in and out of these events they are not underplaying it. In recent years there have been shocking scenes of cars bumper to bumper, trying to access events and frustrations boiling over.

And that’s just the punters trying to get to their concert they have likely paid hundreds of dollars for.

But the more simmering, longterm frustrations belong to residents living near the Spit.

Those, who in many cases, have no interest in the concerts going on at Doug Jennings but find their lives turned upside down regardless. And it would seem they have had enough, taking the issue to the Gold Coast Waterways Authority, which controls the bookings of these events.

The residents want change, they want to ensure that the type of chaos seen at the Fred Again concert does not become the norm multiple times a year.

They don’t want to see mountains of prepaid bikes littering their streets and people relieving themselves in public due to long waits and a lack of facilities.

They also want to make sure that we as a city are getting the best bang for our buck when it comes to allowing access to the Spit for large events of this nature. All-in-all fair requests it would seem.

But from a wider perspective, these sort of scenes after concerts and festivals don’t exactly paint a flattering picture of the Gold Coast as an events city – something we pride ourselves on.

So it is important the Waterways Authority and Gold Coast council take on board these concerns to ensure better outcomes.

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