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Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner blasts Adele concert promoters over Gabba decision

Cameron Atfield

Brisbane City Council's consternation over this weekend's Adele concerts has continued, with deputy mayor Adrian Schrinner blasting the promoters' decision to hold the shows at the Gabba.

Cr Schrinner, the council's public transport chairman, first raised concerns about the concerts in the council chamber last week.

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The promoters, Live Nation, subsequently sought to allay those fears and said the state government, Translink and the council had all been consulted.

But Cr Schrinner said that consultation should have included whether to hold the show at the Gabba at all.

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"There's an important issue here, because we certainly have been consulted on the traffic and transport plans for the event, but what we weren't consulted on was whether the event should be at the Gabba or not," he said.

"That's the critical difference here.

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"We believe, as an administration, that the event should have been at Suncorp Stadium, because Suncorp Stadium has a train station right next to it, it has an underground bus station, it can carry large crowds of 50,000-plus and it does so on a regular basis and we run those crowds, the transport to and from those events, smoothy.

"People can also  walk from the CBD. They catch the bus or train to Roma Street and they actually walk to the venue.

"…The Gabba, on the other hand, is a bit more problematic."

The Gabba was upgraded by the Borbidge government in the 1990s so it could host football matches as part of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, although it left no legacy for that sport.

With a seating capacity of about 40,000, the two Adele concerts will be the biggest ever events at the ground, as 60,000 people will attend both shows due to additional seating on the playing surface.

Cr Schrinner said he hoped his "gut feeling" about the event would prove to be incorrect and said he was concerned about train services leaving the Gabba.

The deputy mayor said Translink's journey planner showed no additional services from Roma Street, where council buses will be taking passengers every 30 seconds at the conclusion of the shows.

A Translink spokeswoman said those services were not added to the journey planner because they were deemed "out of ordinary" services.

"While the majority of them are modifications of scheduled services, they are  primarily event services," she said.

Each train departing Roma Street would have six carriages and hold 750 people, the Translink spokeswoman said.

The following train service changes will be in force after the Adele shows:

Saturday: Two additional trains stopping all stations to Springfield at 11.45pm and 12.15am.

Sunday: Two additional trains stopping all stations to Varsity Lakes at 11.45pm and 12.15am.

The following trains will be retimed:
• 11.03pm Ipswich service retimed to depart at 11.22pm
• 11.03pm Caboolture service retimed to depart at 11.15pm
• 11.18pm Kippa-Ring service retimed to depart at 11.30pm
• 10.52pm Ferny Grove service retimed to depart at 11pm
• 10.50pm Cleveland service retimed to depart at 11pm

Concert-goers could check the Translink website to personalise travel plans.

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