Backlash after Manchester's new 23,500-seat arena Co-op Live unveils latest plans

A furious backlash has met Co-op Live’s bid to secure a licence which would allow the huge new venue to operate until the early hours.

The 23,500-seat arena, opposite the Etihad stadium, is set to open next spring. Bosses have said it will feature ‘100 nights of music’ every year, along with other indoor sporting events, and be a 'good neighbour'. But a new licence application seeks permission to keep the £365 million venue open until 4:30am for ‘Co-op Live Events’ and until 5am for ‘Non-Co-op Live Events’.

Additionally, the licence application seeks permission to sell booze until 4am for ‘Co-op Live Events’, but on unrestricted hours for the latter category. If granted, the licence would also allow the venue 12 opportunities to stay open for 24 hours on ‘Co-op Live events’, which the venue says are ‘essentially large-scale events in the auditorium bowl'.

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‘Non-Co-op Live Events’, it says, are those ‘activities in non-bowl areas of the premises and/or for smaller scale events in the bowl'. However, the application does not specify the number of spectators required to be in the bowl for an event to be ‘large-scale’.

The application has prompted a backlash from councillors in the area, who have told the M.E.N. that their working relationship with the arena had been productive up until this point. The venue sits within the Ancoats and Beswick ward but is close to the border with the Clayton & Openshaw ward, and Miles Platting & Newton Heath ward. That means nine councillors have been included in discussions