Rundle Mall vehicle access hours, and what they mean for a move

When vehicles may not enter Rundle Mall

The City of Adelaide does not permit vehicle access in Rundle Mall during these hours:

Days	No vehicle access
Monday to Thursday	9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Friday	9:00 am to 9:15 pm
Saturday and Sunday	9:00 am to 5:00 pm

Permit holders may only enter outside those hours. Friday is the longest closure, running into the evening.

What a permit allows

The council’s vehicle access permits are for loading and unloading goods to Rundle Mall businesses that have no other access point, for a maximum of 30 minutes. Short-term access may also be allowed for approved works. In other words, a permit is not a parking space: it is a short window to get goods in or out, outside the closed hours, for a business that cannot be reached any other way.

What it means for a business moving in or out

Thirty minutes is not long for a shop fit-out or an office. A move into or out of a Rundle Mall tenancy is usually planned around three questions:

1. Is there another way in? Many mall businesses have a rear lane, a side street or a centre loading dock. If there is one, the move uses it, and the mall’s hours matter less.
2. If not, how many short windows will the move need? A move with no other access point is split into loads that fit the permit window, outside the closed hours.
3. What happens between loads? Goods are staged inside the tenancy, ready to go, so each window is spent loading rather than carrying.

Planning a move around the closed hours

• Tell your removalist exactly how goods reach the tenancy today: the door, the lane, the dock, the lift.
• If your building or centre has its own loading dock, ask centre management for its booking rules and times.
• Pack and stage everything before the first window, close to the door that will be used.
• Keep large items, such as counters and display units, for the window with the most time around it.
• Have someone from the business at the door for every load, with keys and access.

Shops, offices and the floors above

Not every Rundle Mall business is a shop at street level. Offices, studios and consulting rooms sit on the floors above the mall, and many of those buildings have an entrance or a goods lift reached from a side street or lane. For an upstairs office, the first job is to find out how goods reach the floor today: which door, which lift, and whether that lift can take furniture. The answer often decides whether the mall’s hours matter at all.

For a shop at street level with no other door, the mall’s closed hours set the shape of the whole move. Loads are planned for the windows outside those hours, and the shop is packed and staged so each short window is used well. Fixtures that have to come apart, such as counters and shelving, are best taken down before the first window opens.

Other city rules to know

Rundle Mall is one of several city rules a move can meet. A skip bin, shipping container or elevated work platform placed on a council road or footpath needs a City of Adelaide City Works permit, and neighbours must be told at least 24 hours before works that occupy the street in front of another property. Office towers and managed buildings add their own rules for docks, goods lifts and permitted move times. For a business moving in the city, we check parking and loading rules with the building and the council before moving day.

Moving a city business

Moveall for Business, the commercial service of Moveall Australia Pty Ltd, plans city moves around these rules. Our page for businesses looking for Adelaide CBD removalists covers docks, lifts and permits in full, and shops and showrooms are covered on commercial removalists in Adelaide.