HAMPSHIRE cricket bosses have finally applied for planning permission for the eagerly awaited concert by Oasis next month.

A capacity crowd of 35,000 fans is due to flock to the Rose Bowl in West End on July 6 to see the rock giants in action.

In April, the Daily Echo revealed that despite selling out the venue, the club had yet to apply to planners for consent to host the event. Now councillors will at last get the chance to assess the plans.

Members of Eastleigh Council's Hedge End, West End and Botley Local Area Committee are being recommended to allow four open-air concerts for up to 35,000 spectators at the Rose Bowl over the next two years.

Civic chiefs are also being advised to attach a string of conditions, aimed at reducing the impact on local residents.

A number of technical documents detailing how the Oasis concert will be managed - including measures to limit the impact of traffic and noise - have been submitted with the planning bid.

Two park-and-ride sites, plus a park-and-walk with dedicated shuttle buses, have been proposed along with additional train services from Hedge End and Southampton Parkway plus road closures in Botley Road and Tollbar Way to ensure safe and rapid crowd dispersal for up to two hours after the concert.

While police say they believe the traffic will be manageable, they warn that, because of the size of the crowd, there will "inevitably" be severe traffic congestion in the area surrounding the Rose Bowl.

In a report from planning officers, councillors will be told that the open air concerts are needed to help bolster the financial viability of the cricket club.

However, the future prosperity of the club and the knock-on economic benefits to the locality must be judged against the potential problems caused by noise and disturbance to local residents.

The report adds: "Given the scale of the proposed concerts and the number of spectators that will be coming to the area, it is understandable if local residents have reservations and concerns about how this will impact on them.

"The technical reports submitted to support the application do, however, indicate that concerts can be managed in such a way as to minimise impact on the locality."

So far the council has received just a handful of objections to the concert.