THE owners of Emerald Headingley Stadium will find out next week whether they have permission to turn the ground into one of the largest concert venues in the north of England.

The rugby pitch, along with surrounding stands at the Emerald Headingley Stadium, currently has permission to hold two events per year for up to 9,999 people.

However, a fresh application was submitted to licensing chiefs at Leeds City Council asking to increase this to four events per year, with no more than 19,999 spectators at each event.

The meeting will come almost six months after plans were originally set to be heard by the committee, a meeting which was scuppered by the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown.

Headingley Stadium to become 10,000-capacity concert venue – but only for two times a year

According to a report, set to go before Leeds City Council’s licensing sub-committee, applicant Leeds Cricket, Football & Athletic Company Limited wants to increase the number of live music events to four over two weekends, while all timings would remain the same.

The venue’s current licence allows live music and sale of alcohol, for one event per year on either on a Friday or Saturday, between noon and 11pm; and another event on a Saturday or a Sunday from 11am-6pm, on consecutive days. The events taking place between noon and 11pm may involve up to 9,999 spectators, while the event between 11am and 6pm may involve up to 4,999 spectators.

Leeds City Council’s licensing department received numerous complaints about the plans from residents.

One of which read: “The recently built Headingley Stadium is in the process of applying for at least four weekend events of so-called entertainment that usually involves heavy traffic, unreasonably loud noise of what appears to pass as music, dreadful behaviour from some unruly individuals, urination in streets and pavements and rubbish strewn everywhere.

“Making money and benefitting the city’s economy at the expense of making local residents’ life sheer hell is not always the best option.”

Another letter read: “The proposal will make it very difficult for my children to sleep during the evening and into the night. This application would allow music to be played at a high volume none stop (sic) on four nights up until 11pm.

“My children go to bed at 7pm – unlike a rugby match, pop/rock concerts are likely to involve almost non-stop music and commentary from the performers. This will make it very hard for my children to sleep soundly, especially on summer nights.”

According to papers submitted to Leeds City Council the applicant said it would do all it could to keep noise and disruption to a minimum.

It added: “Stewarding and policing deployments will be calculated based on spectator attendance and crowd intelligence at pre-planning stages.

“We are mindful of residents and will adopt a policy consistent with with existing procedures to minimise noise and light disruption. Floodlights will be turned off by 11pm and no bottle bins or waste will be emptied or collected until the next day.”

It said the western terrace, which is the closest stand to “noise-sensitive premises” would not be used, and is excluded from the application.

The fate of the application will be decided by a meeting of Leeds City Council’s licensing sub-committee on Monday, September 21.