City Council wants to keep suburbanites after hours to boost cash into Adelaide's night-life Owner of new bar Four Doors Plus One, Leigh Brown, at his bar on Hindley St. Source: News Limited ADELAIDE City Council is developing a plan to entice up to 10 per cent of the CBD's daytime population, or 22,000 people, to stay in the city after knock-off time and stimulate the evening economy. The "Good Evening Adelaide" strategy could include longer opening hours for the art gallery or museum, cafes and restaurants continuing service between lunch and dinner rushes, weeknight street theatre and improved transport options. The council is taking inspiration from cities, such as Leeds in the UK, where retailers open until 7pm, and Berlin in Germany, where some museums open until 2am and shuttle buses run between venues. The council's four-year strategy will focus on the hours between 5pm and early morning. Target demographics include city workers, students, young teenagers and over 55s. Crowds enjoy a night out on Hindley St, Adelaide on a Saturday night. It is estimated that encouraging more people to stay in the city through the early evening could ease peak hour congestion and the extra activity could fuel job creation. A draft plan is expected to be approved by the Capital City Committee next month and would come into effect early next year. The council is calling for ideas for pilot programs to trial later in the year. City traders want licensing restrictions eased to encourage more flexible opening hours, more night markets, food trucks, book shops and another city cinema. Some fear it will be difficult to increase patronage by 10 per cent in the current economic climate. "We have to ... take the barriers away from the entrepreneurial people who would be attracting other people to stay in town," Adelaide West End Association president Andrew Wallace said. He called for the return of "dinner with entertainment," such as the dance classes and flamenco shows at Leigh St tapas bar Casablabla. East End Co-ordination Group chairman and Stag Hotel owner Peter Holden said the "stop on the way home from work market" was declining. "In the end it's going to be driven by individual businesses' customer offerings," he said. New Hindley St bar Four Doors Plus One owner Leigh Brown said good food and an "interesting and quirky" mix of businesses would entice workers to stay in town. "With a food option, people will buy a bottle of wine instead of a glass ... and will stay much longer," he said. More than 220,000 people use the city during the day, including 118,000 workers and 86,700 students but that number drops off dramatically after business hours. City council research points to reasons for the exodus being the cost and irregularity of public transport, lack of awareness of what is on offer, retail outlets closing at 5pm, poor lighting after dark and limited off-street parking options. Growing numbers of visitors to the CBD never come for leisure or entertainment. The new strategy would encourage more temporary use of laneways, better connecting pathways across the city and a greater variety of entertainment not centred around drinking. A local government report released earlier this year found performing arts, restaurants and cafes drive Adelaide's night-time economy but fewer people are relying on takeaway food after dark.