Spurs allowed to double non-match stadium events

Plans to double the number of "major non-football events" at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium have been approved by Haringey Council.

Tottenham Hotspur applied to increase the annual limit on large events like music concerts and boxing matches from 16 to 30, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

It comes after the north London stadium breached its licence by selling tickets to a fifth Beyoncé concert in 2023.

Lady Gaga, Guns N' Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers have been among those to perform at the venue since it opened in 2019.

During a meeting of Haringey's planning sub-committee, councillors raised concerns over noise pollution, ticket touting, littering and the impact on traffic and transport.

Gavin Douglas, head of the council's regulatory services, said regulating events was "a full-on operation, a real mixture of different issues that tend to happen".

"It does have a direct effect on the council’s revenue account," he said.

He added there would be an additional cost to "regulate it [the proposal] properly" by keeping officers available to "mitigate the issues", adding "we simply don’t have the budget in order to do it".

Two committee members proposed deferring the plan’s decision due to the amount of concerns raised, and Bruce Castle ward councillor Ibrahim Ali, who attended as a non-member, suggested the plans were "contentious".

“People do want to see events, they see it as a way of driving jobs, driving opportunities to the area, driving attractions - but I do think in an ideal world we should have had a lot of these things addressed before reviewing this application today so people can see examples of this working in practice,” he said.

Donna Cullen, executive director of Tottenham Hotspur, subsequently agreed to contribute £4,000 for each additional event over the previous limit of 16 events.

This was the sum the council had previously estimated was required.

She said: “I do not want to be in a position where the council is saying to us they have costs we’re not covering or meeting, but I do want to better understand those costs and that they’re properly applied, so that we can get to our review at the end of the year and know that everybody stepped up to do what was needed in the interests of the neighbourhood.”

Following this, councillors voted unanimously to approve the application.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]