Yorkshire urge go-ahead on Headingley stand

Yorkshire and their rugby league counterparts, Leeds Rhinos, have appealed to Leeds City Council to give the go-ahead to their Headingley development next month, in order for the clubs to benefit from the staging of the World Cup in 2019 and the Rugby League World Cup two years later.

The new stand, on the rugby side of the ground, would serve both sports and is seen as essential in raising Headingley to a necessary standard to attract the sort of fixtures that will make the ground financially viable.

A positive outcome in a council planning committee meeting on January 12 is deemed essential as Yorkshire press for the same level of political support in Leeds as has been displayed by other major cities in the UK including Cardiff, where backing from the Welsh Assembly has been integral to the ground's international status, Birmingham and Manchester.

Plans to replace the decrepit rugby stand, part of which is now condemned for safety reasons, were baulked when planning officers rejected two linked residential planning applications in the Leeds suburbs of Weetwood and Tingley, on land owned by Leeds Rhinos, which were contributing essential funds to the overall cost of delivering the stadium project.

After emergency discussions with council chiefs, that application has now been withdrawn, pending further discussions with both the council and the community. Rhinos representatives did not help themselves when they failed to attend a community meeting after receiving confidential council advice that they would face a hostile reception.

Leeds Council's own calculations are that they need 70,000 new homes in the city by 2028.

Both Yorkshire and Leeds Rugby are still hopeful that a solution to the funding requirements of the Headingley scheme can be found.

Yorkshire's chief executive, Mark Arthur, said: "It is essential that a solution is found in order to deliver international cricket to Leeds beyond 2019, and we are working tirelessly with Leeds City Council and Leeds Rhinos to that end."

The new stand is phase two of a six-stage plan known, with characteristic Yorkshire amour propre, as the Headingley Masterplan. The stand will incorporate a three-tiered seating area, which will accommodate 5060 seats, enhanced corporate facilities and a new media area.

Leeds Rugby's chief executive Gary Hetherington said: "To deliver the £39m Headingley Carnegie Stadium redevelopment, which everyone wants, we have to find a solution to the funding issue."