Music concerts planned for Headingley cricket ground

The club has applied for permission from Leeds City Council to hold up to three concerts during each of the next two calander years.

They would take place on Headingley’s cricket ground, with crowd capacity set at just under the 15,000 mark.

A council report on the plan says Yorkshire want to attract “Radio Two type acts” – indicating that the performers would be drawn from the world of pop rather than rock.

The report also says the club has a “major international artist” lined up to appear this June, should permission be granted by the council.

Yorkshire commercial director Andy Dawson said yesterday that the club was in “advanced discussions” with a number of promoters. He went on: “We want to provide a multi-entertainment venue for the community.

“We also need to find new 
and stable income streams to support the business of playing cricket.”

Councillors will discuss the club’s proposal at a meeting set to be held next Wednesday.

Planning technicalities mean permission from the authority is required for non-cricketing events with capacities of more than 2,000 people.

The council’s report on the proposal notes that objections 
have been received from residents and two Weetwood ward councillors.

Concerns raised, says the report, relate to noise nuisance and traffic congestion.

However, the report also recommends that councillors support the plan.

The report says: “The use of 
the stadium for the staging of 
concerts will provide a leisure and amenity benefit to the [city] and the local area.”

If councillors give the proposal the green light next Wednesday, then Yorkshire are aiming to 
hold concerts on consecutive days so that the disruption 
caused by putting up and 
dismantling stage sets can be reduced.

Shows are likely to take place over summer weekends, starting about 7pm and finishing no later than 10pm.