Morecambe FC allowed to trial concerts at ground

Morecambe FC's plans for music concerts at its Globe Arena stadium were approved on Monday by Lancaster City Council's planning committee.

The permission follows nine months of negotiation and discussion led by Bury-based Maze Planning Solutions, required to overcome a range of concerns about noise, traffic and event management raised by the local authority, police and Lancashire County Council.

Morecambe FC will be allowed to hold three days of live music events each year, with the potential to attract up to 12,000 music fans each time. It's likely the allocation will be used for a festival spanning two or three consecutive days during the closed football season so full use can be made of the stadium.

A temporary planning permission has been given, which allows the football club to demonstrate commitment to good working practices for event management and noise control.

Maze led the planning process, assisted by the Manchester office of Hepworth Acoustics, which provided specialist noise modelling expertise.

Andrew Watt of Maze said: "This was a challenging application and followed withdrawal of an earlier submission that was met with widespread objection. Fortunately we've been able to provide sufficient comfort to the council and its consultees on the key issues of noise and event management to allow the football club a crack at putting on a potentially great event for the town."

Morecambe FC relocated to purpose-built facilities at the Globe Arena in summer 2010.