I am not certain of the sequence, my memory is not what it used to be,but I am pretty sure it was a condition of development approval. That along with resticting street parking and access from William Road were also hot issues at the time. The concerts in the first year may have had one off exemptions as carry over bookings from Apollo.
We have to fervently hope that the exemptions are not lifted as these make the purchase of the stadium particularly unattractive to a developer. The fact that the stadium was built on top of a rubbish dump will also be a factor. Any redevelopment will require a great deal of addtional remediation as the land is unsuitable for more intensive development.
Again this is not gospel only from the depths of my memory.
It always perplexed me that the local residents had so much say as the houses in William Street were part of the old MATS plan and were earmarked for demolition for a dual carriageway road at that time.
As for the restraint of trade argument, I don't think there would be much of a case. Zoning under the Development Act would preclude any change of use for the site. If Council can stop a Maccas next to a school it would ave no problems stopping a concert hall in a reidential/industrial zone
