Fred Again Gold Coast concert: Fury over traffic gridlock and abandoned bikes after ‘secret’ gig

Calls are growing for big concerts on The Spit to be cancelled and relocated after the traffic chaos which engulfed the area following last weekend’s Fred Again gig. SEE THE VIDEO

Police have accused impatient concertgoers who pulled down a fence and stood on roads of playing a major role in causing traffic chaos at The Spit on Sunday.

Gridlock gripped the area after patrons streamed out of a Fred Again concert that drew in more than 31,500 people.

The move has sparked calls from community groups to review future events held on the Spit in a bid to avoid a similar situation.

Main Beach Association president Sue Donovan said events of similar size should be held at stadiums rather than Doug Jennings Park.

“When are the Gold Coast Waterways Authority and council going to accept the fact that the disruption caused by massive music events at Doug Jennings Park at The Spit is unacceptable, not only to Main Beach residents, but also those stuck in traffic jams for hours on end in surrounding areas,” she said.

“Surely the time has come for a review of the policy that allows large events to be held at Doug Jennings Park. At the very least, the number of such events must be capped to no more than ten per year. And the attendance numbers should also be capped to no more than 10,000 at any event.

“It was a big weekend for the Gold Coast all round. Two football games, and the surfing carnival and a concert,” Acting Superintendent Bruce Kuhn said.

“We’re growing as a city. We just have to accept that there is always going to be traffic congestion.

“It would be nice if people could exercise just a little bit of patience and just be mindful of those around them. Because I do know that part of the transport issue was that some people took it upon themselves to knock over some fencing and stand on the roads and the public transport couldn’t actually get in.”

Acting Supt Kuhn said there would be an investigation conducted into the cause of Sunday’s traffic chaos.

“All of the circumstances around the egress from the concert, and even the ingress as people arrived will be subject of a debrief with our Major Events, the Gold Coast Council major events and of course the Waterways Authority,” he said.

“We are constantly looking at ways to improve the way that we conduct our business and how it affects the community generally.”

Videos posted on social media showed the scale of the chaos. Posting on Instagram, Lauren Bullen said the majority of the almost 32,000 people who attended the concert were forced to walk more than 5km to get away from the area after leaving.

“(It was) a human stampede and no buses could even move,” she said.

‘ABSOLUTE MADNESS’ AFTER ‘SECRET CONCERT

Hundreds of hire bikes were abandoned in a public park while traffic gridlock gripped The Spit after a ‘secret’ Fred Again concert saw more than 31,500 people descend on the area.

Two-time Grammy-award winning DJ Fredrick Gibson, aka Fred Again played the pop up event at Doug Jennings Park on the Spit on Saturday.

However the buses organised to ferry patrons to the event proved inadequate, with it drawing

a bigger crowd than either the Suns or Titans AFL and NRL season openers, which were both played the same afternoon and evening.

The gridlock and lack of buses saw hundreds of people ride hire bikes to Main Beach and The Spit where they were left abandoned on the footpaths causing havoc.

Abandoned hire bikes on the footpath at the southern end of The Spit during the Fred Again gig on The Spit on March 9, 2024. Picture: Zachary Burton

Abandoned hire bikes on the footpath at Main Beach following the Fred Again gig on The Spit on March 9, 2024. Picture: Richard Holliday

Gold Coasters have been warned to brace for more, with 10 further large-scale events booked for Doug Jennings Park for the rest of the year.

Businessman and former Surfers Paradise Alliance boss Richard Holliday slammed the poorly organised public transport.

“Allowing 31,500 people to attend a so-called secret event on the Spit with limited public transport and concert goers queuing for miles waiting for transport at makeshift locations in Surfers Paradise and Australia Fair is madness,” he said.

“This has to stop.”

Big crowds at the Fred Again gig on The Spit on March 9, 2024. Picture: Portia Large

Mr Holliday, who was previously a board member on the Waterways Authority, said the size of events occurring at Doug Jennings Park was far beyond the scope planned during the Spit Masterplan.

“The Gold Coast Waterways Authority needs to re-evaluate their event strategy especially public transport public safety, the impacts on Surfers Paradise and Australia Fair in relation to transport and the impacts on Dough Jennings Park,” he said.

Richard Holliday. Picture: Regi Varghese

“During community consultation on the Spit Masterplan nobody envisaged crowds above 30,000 attending concerts on the Spit.”

Video shot late on Saturday afternoon shows the mass of abandoned bikes littering the footpath near the former Golden Door site, while Mr Holliday encountered even more on Saturday night on the Main Beach foreshore.

Area councillor Darren Taylor said the events were booked and organised by the Gold Coast Waterways authority rather than council and questioned whether it was appropriate to hold large events on the Spit given the lack of transport infrastructure to move large numbers of people in and out.

Mr Taylor said the council was working with all parties to improve future events

“The Authority have 10 more events planned for the year and once they book them we have to deal with the traffic management,” he said.

“One of the issues is that the size of the events because the road network cannot mange that amount of patrons and as a city we have to get the infrastructure out to the Spit to manage this and we are working with all stakeholders to do this.

“This isn’t the first time it’s happened and there are a lot of businesses at the southern end of The Spit and Main Beach who are affected so we definitely need to improve the infrastructure because otherwise this puts the whole area into gridlock.

‘It’s frustrating for everyone and while we don’t want to miss out on events, we have to ask whether this is the right location for events of this size given the infrastructure was not designed for this.”

Plans for improved public transport in the area has been a hot topic in recent years.

Long-time plans for a light rail spur line out to the Spit were shelved after protests from Main Beach residents who were opposed to the disruption construction would cause.

Driverless buses were also trialled.

The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology then edited and approved for publication by an editor.