Edinburgh council to charge Oasis for concert costs

City of Edinburgh Council will look to claw back costs for Oasis' trio of reunion gigs at Murrayfield next year

City of Edinburgh Council will bill Oasis for costs it incurs hosting the band’s reunion concerts at Murrayfield next summer.

The local authority spent £40,000 on extra toilets and security arrangements when Taylor Swift played three sold-out shows at the national rugby stadium in June.

A new policy applying a 100% cost recovery to commercial events will come in to force at the start of October – almost a year before the Gallagher brothers arrive in the city for three nights at the arena.

Council leader Cammy Day said tax payers should not “bear the costs” of the city hosting large-scale events.

The local authority spent £40,000 on extra toilets and security arrangements when Taylor Swift performed at Murrayfield in June

Figures released in August showed that for Swift’s Eras Tour shows, the council spent £16,934 on security measures, £3,650 on lighting, £2,985 on temporary toilets, £678 on ‘radios’, £642 on CCTV, £400 on signage and £1,434.36 on “intelligent traffic signals”.

Council staff also worked 1,044 hours of overtime, which based on the real living wage amounts to at least £12,528.

Promoters paid a £21,913 bill for cleaning and waste management.

Additional costs were also met by Murrayfield owners, Scottish Rugby.

The new policy means the council will be able to recoup funds spent on toilets, lighting, street cleaning and other services which facilitate concerts and sports matches.

Councillor Day said: “I don’t think the taxpayer in Edinburgh should bear the costs of that.

“Of course, these concerts bring tens of millions of pounds to the city and it’s hugely successful and we want that to continue, but the impact shouldn’t be on our residents.”

'Huge profits'

Cllr Day added the council faced a £30m funding black hole, while organisers enjoyed “huge profits”.

He said: “Of course it’s great that we’ve seen fantastic acts like Taylor Swift and the many other acts that came here in the last year.

“I think they should cover the costs of these events, not the council. The Taylor Swift event along incurred costs of around £29,000 of resources and staff time.”

Oasis will play three shows at the stadium on 8, 9 and 12 August next year.

Tickets for the concerts sold out within hours of going on sale.

Reporting by local democracy journalist Donald Turvill.