Hull City Council has finally approved plans for a 3,500-seater music and events centre, Hull Venue, which includes an 800-seat conference auditorium.

The decision means that a new conference facility, due to open in 2018, can go ahead as part of the redevelopment of Hull’s historic Beverley Gate.

Plans had previously been rejected, but this time the planning committee voted eight for and four against on the planning committee to approve.

The council says the venue can attract 240,000 visitors a year.

The new centre will include a 3,500 capacity concert auditorium with the flexibility to reduce to a 2,500 all-seated event and a 2,000sqm exhibition space plus the 800-capacity conference auditorium.

The council says the scheme will deliver 30 full time jobs with 100-150 temporary jobs on event days.

Councillor Steven Bayes, said: “The approval of this scheme is key to making Hull a top visitor destination and to securing a long-term legacy from our year as UK City of Culture.

“We will formally hand over the City of Culture title to another city in 2020, but this development will allow us to continue to attract events capable of delivering a big economic impact beyond that.

“Importantly, it will deliver a large number long-term jobs for our local workforce and young people, which is part of the legacy that we want to deliver for Hull and the city.”

The council has committed £36.2m towards the cost of building the complex on the site behind Princes Quay shopping centre and this investment will also modernise Osborne Street car park.

Situated close to the key road and rail routes in and out of Hull, the new Hull Venue, the council hopes, will revitalise and reconnect the heart of the city centre by providing a link between the historic Old Town, the 1950s-built ‘new town’ and the city’s transport interchange and St Stephen’s shopping centre.

Conference delegates will also be afforded views of Hull Marina.

Work will begin later this year, following BAM Construction’s appointment in December.

Plans to improve Beverley Gate, the remains of Hull’s ancient defence walls, were also approved at the council planning meeting. The site was where King Charles I was refused entry to Hull in 1642, sparking the English Civil War.

Source: Conference News