CONCERT PLANS FOR WALKERS STADIUM - Now Approved.

[davieG]

ONCERT PLANS FOR WALKERS STADIUM

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BY JENNY CORNISH

CHIEF POLITICAL REPORTER

10:30 - 17 March 2008

Pop concerts could finally be heading to the Walkers Stadium if councillors agree plans this week.

Leicester City Football Club is set to hold up to six concerts a year, each for up to 25,000 people.

The club is asking for permanent permission to hold concerts so it can justify spending about £200,000 on improvements to the ground. The stadium is safe for 32,000 football fans, but is currently unfit to host major pop concerts, as dancing in the stands could cause it to crumble.

The proposal was put on hold in April last year so that the club could discuss the plans with the Highway Authority following concerns about parking.

Now planning officers are recommending approval at a meeting tomorrow.

The club also wants to be able to host rugby matches and international football fixtures, Sunday and bank holiday car-boot sales, along with occasional fairgrounds and trade fairs.

A club spokesman said: "We are looking to obtain a new permanent licence from the council which will allow the stadium to hold sporting and non-sporting events other than those involving the Leicester City first team."

Rivals Coventry and Derby have held events featuring acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams.

No major concerts have ever been performed at the Walkers Stadium, although Status Quo was lined up to play in front of 14,000 fans in 2006, before the gig was cancelled.

Industry sources say clubs can make tens of thousands of pounds' profit from staging a major concert.

However, people who live near the stadium say they have suffered car-parking problems for years because of matches taking place at the ground, and more events would make it worse.

Westcotes ward councillor Andy Connelly said he was objecting to the application.

He said: "It's an issue about whether they're doing enough to alleviate the traffic and parking issues for local residents - that's the concern."

However, the planning officers' report says: "The Walkers Stadium is a valuable leisure facility for the city. Greater use of the stadium and site to provide for wider community demands and needs is to be welcomed."

The club had asked for between six and 12 concerts a year to be held but officers said there should be a limit of six.

Officers have also agreed to get rid of a condition requiring that the club provides a minimum of 500 park-and-ride car spaces.

However, they say the club should encourage fans to use existing and proposed park-and-ride sites, and expand a bus and coach service.

The club would still have to agree travel and transport plans with the council before any concerts could take place.

Dr Marcus Cooke, who lives in Upperton Road, near the ground, said: "It's a nightmare at the weekends and every time they play a match now. Our lives are effectively regulated by the fixture list.

"Undoubtedly this is going to make it worse from the point of view of noise and traffic."

[Simi]

So it's not safe to stand passively at a football match but it's safe to jump around at a concert?

So many lies...

[danny.]

So it's not safe to stand passively at a football match but it's safe to jump around at a concert?

So many lies...

Not safe at all it seems!

dancing in the stands could cause it to crumble.

did they make it out of paper maché??

[Simi]

Not safe at all it seems!

did they make it out of paper maché??

So why is this even being considered?

I guess they'd have to pay to make sure it has enough support and whatnot.

[Bernie's Love Child]

Kasabian for the first gig anyone?

[lcfc_jme]

After people at the club said our stadium was unfit to hold concerts as it wasn't safe enough because of standing and dancing, this story surfaces. It's an absolute joke, really. I know this will probably be read by official figures at the club, but I'm beyond caring now. Full of lies. Ground regulations will almost certainly be broken on a universal basis when these plans get the green light, but no doubt that won't stop our stewards, and the big (in the literal sense of the word) man upstairs from treating us like criminals if we continue to stand. It's all about fucking revenue, the fat-cats behind the scenes don't really have a leg to stand on but continue to refuse active debates / exploration on an issue which they are constantly being pressed about and forced to deal with. Very unhappy with this news.

[Trav Le Bleu]

The club is asking for permanent permission to hold concerts so it can justify spending about £200,000 on improvements to the ground. The stadium is safe for 32,000 football fans, but is currently unfit to host major pop concerts, as dancing in the stands could cause it to crumble.

Is that why we never celebrate when we score?

[lcfc_jme]

Is that why we never celebrate when we score?

We hardly ever score.

On a serious note, dancing in the stands is very much permitted when Chelsea Dagger plays, because the club know when it's turned off, everyone will stop dancing and return to their seated, safe position.

[Zingari]

somehow i'm not reassured that the stadium is likely to crumble if fans start to dance

is the safety margin really that narrow

[STUHILL]

NO DANCING PPL!!!

[Jimmy]

do you people not read the article, if given permission the club would spend £200,000 to make it safe for concerts

[Zingari]

do you people not read the article, if given permission the club would spend £200,000 to make it safe for concerts

But is the safety margin at the moment that narrow

fans could start "dancing" to chelsea dagger now, ; you only need a a few jobbers in the crowd

[Fox in a Box]

SHOWADDLETWALLE or STATUS QUO..

get real ............

This is 2008 not 1978!

[Daggers]

Dr Marcus Cooke, who lives in Upperton Road, near the ground, said: "It's a nightmare at the weekends and every time they play a match now. Our lives are effectively regulated by the fixture list.

"Undoubtedly this is going to make it worse from the point of view of noise and traffic."

Maybe Dr Marcus Cooke should have thought about this before buying a house next to a football ground?

Maybe the pompous prick could call himself Marcus or Mr Cooke as well?

[lildave3]

Lisa will be pleased I imagine.

I think we all should be.

[filbertway]

We're a super complex of entertainment.. or we will be soon anyway.. huzzar

[Thracian]

do you people not read the article, if given permission the club would spend £200,000 to make it safe for concerts

To make it safe for concert stompers to do their thing - why not football fans? It's double standards. I'm all for concerts and recreational use of the ground and there will always be some councillor complaining on the not-in-my-back-yard basis.

But there's been a football ground in that vicinity for a long, long time and crowds were a bloody sight bigger in times past. So anyone not prepared to put up with a bit of disturbance had ample opportunity to pick somewhere else to live.

But the attitude to football fans standing up or dancing up and down is ridiculous. There should be options to sit or to stand and the ground should be safe for use whichever.

[Jimmy]

But is the safety margin at the moment that narrow

fans could start "dancing" to chelsea dagger now, ; you only need a a few jobbers in the crowd

your forgetting about the added vibrations of CONSTANT music, they know football fans won't be jumping up and down all game no matter what

[Jimmy]

To make it safe for concert stompers to do their thing - why not football fans? It's double standards. I'm all for concerts and recreational use of the ground and there will always be some councillor complaining on the not-in-my-back-yard basis.

But there's been a football ground in that vicinity for a long, long time and crowds were a bloody sight bigger in times past. So anyone not prepared to put up with a bit of disturbance had ample opportunity to pick somewhere else to live.

But the attitude to football fans standing up or dancing up and down is ridiculous. There should be options to sit or to stand and the ground should be safe for use whichever.

as yet there hasn't been a Hillsborough equivalent in rock/pop concerts in this country, also the SAG don't have a say in how a music audience is policed, they are the problem when it comes to standing at football games not the club

[DB11]

Even if they made it safe there isn't going to be any room to dance with all the chairs in the way

[Tevez]

What a joke!

[Staf]

Doesen really bother me whether they have concerts it will be good to get more money in but if the stadium crumbles i will be fuming

[Zingari]

any rock group would be stupid to play at the walkers

after a couple of songs they'd forget how to finish

[Koke]

any rock group would be stupid to play at the walkers

after a couple of songs they'd forget how to finish

Get your coat

[Bryn]

Maybe Dr Marcus Cooke should have thought about this before buying a house next to a football ground?

Maybe the pompous prick could call himself Marcus or Mr Cooke as well?

To be fair he might have had his house longer than the ground has been planned there (dunno how old the houses are in that area, am willing to be set straight) and to be called a Dr is his right, plus it's his legal title, and Mr isn't.