Yorkshire Cricket Club’s Carnegie Pavilion
Plans for a £39m redevelopment of Headingley stadium have been approved by the local council.
Plans for the stadium, which hosts cricket, rugby league and rugby union, include a new south stand on the rugby ground and a new joint stand overlooking both the rugby pitch and cricket ground.
Leeds City Council approved the plans earlier, but deferred a final decision to the authority’s chief planning officer. It said the redevelopment of the stadium would “bring significant economic benefits to the city”.
However, it is yet to be confirmed how the work would be funded.
The Leeds site is home to rugby league side Leeds Rhinos, rugby union side Yorkshire Carnegie and Yorkshire County Cricket Club. Yorkshire CC and Leeds Rhinos had previously proposed funding the project by selling land for housing development.
Under the redevelopment proposals a new rugby south stand, and a replacement for the existing joint stand, which overlooks both the rugby pitch and cricket ground, would be built. The plans are aimed at retaining the stadium’s position internationally in readiness for the economic and social benefits that hosting the 2019 Cricket World Cup and future test match cricket will bring to Leeds and Yorkshire.
Funding was due to be raised from the development of two sites for housing, but the clubs have now dropped two residential housing planning applications after “complex planning matters” delayed the renovation scheme.
Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington said: “We would like to thank Leeds City Council for their efforts during this planning application process.
“This was another crucial step for us. We believe a funding mechanism can be found to realise the vision for the stadium.”
Yorkshire CCC chief executive Mark Arthur added: “We remain confident that we can deliver the redevelopment for the stadium and look forward to working with partners to make this possible and retain our status in international cricket.”
Image: Pinfoldphotos/Dreamstime.com
