Venue's 'capacity to learn' helped earn licence to open

CO-OP Live was granted a licence to open because it ‘was aware of the challenges in operating and demonstrated the capacity to learn, grow, adapt’, a report has said.

- ETHAN DAVIES

The new 23,500-seat venue, which will open in April opposite the Etihad Stadium, saw its licence application approved last week.

That came after a two-day hearing the week before in which main rivals the AO Arena, charity the Music Venue Trust, local councillors and scores of residents nearby raised objections.

During the hearing, fears were expressed over how thousands of people would get home from the east Manchester site in the early hours of the morning. The venue said it would put shuttle buses on to take ravers back to the city centre and is investing in a walking route from the sports campus to the Holt Town tram stop.

Now, the written reasons of the committee – made up of councillors Julie Connolly, Glynn Evans and Thomas Judge – have been revealed in a report made available to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.