A tennis club can put up 18 more floodlights around its courts after councillors granted planning permission this afternoon (Wednesday 6 September).
The Pavilion and Avenue Tennis Club, in The Droveway, Hove, wants to be able to use more of its courts in the evenings, particularly in the darker months.
Neighbours sent Brighton and Hove City Council a dozen objections to the club’s planning application, compared with almost 200 comments in support.
One neighbour, James McGuigan, is also a club member and, at a meeting of the council’s Planning Committee at Hove Town Hall this afternoon, he set out his objections.
He said that bushes at the end of the gardens in Onslow Road would not block the lights and the glare from the tennis court surface under the existing floodlights was visible even though they were further away.
Mr McGuigan said: “No one has consulted us or attempted to visit and take any real measurements of what this is in reality.
“We have a young family and the noise is going to increase. The court immediately behind our garden has a practice wall which the club themselves have admitted is too noisy.”
Conservative councillor Samer Bagaeen, who represents Westdene and Hove Park, urged the Planning Committee to reject the floodlights plan because of the undue harm that he said it would cause neighbours.
Councillor Bagaeen, a professor of planning, said that the volume of support for the plan resulted from the club mobilising its members.
He said: “What matters is the amenity of the neighbouring properties. We have heard the impact the development will have.
“Having spoken with neighbours of the club, the higher levels of light emission and the prospective increase of hours of noise and disturbance would cause harm which cannot be mitigated by this club.”
The club’s planning agent, Simon Bareham, from Lewis and Co, said that it would also replace heads on the existing floodlights with new baffles and LEDs to reduce light pollution.
He said: “The proposed lighting conforms with British standards for the impact of lighting on a surrounding area and has been assessed with regard to standards for rural locations.
“Given that the site is located within a suburban location, it can be seen that the lighting will perform to a higher standard than is necessary for the area and a safety first approach taken to the assessment.”
Mr Bareham said that because the application was minor, no additional consultation was carried out beyond the legal requirements.
The lighting report said that the proposed LEDs would be 0.2 Lux, the equivalent strength of moonlight.
Conservative councillor Carol Theobald said that the floodlighting would mean extended hours and, in her experience, it was not just the lighting that was the problem but the noise from balls bouncing.
Councillor Theobald said: “Houses surround these tennis courts. The houses were there before the tennis courts. When we saw the pictures of the lighting, it did show up – very much – and the bushes didn’t hide it.”
Green councillor Sue Shanks backed the plan but said that neighbours should be aware that they could, if necessary, complain to the council’s environmental health team.
She said: “Generally, I’m supportive of tennis. It’s a great sport. It’s good to have more opportunities in the evenings to play. It’s a well-used and long-standing club as well.”
Labour councillor Liz Loughran, who chairs the council’s Planning Committee, said: “There has been a considerable attempt by the applicant to reduce the impact in respect to the hours of operation.”
The committee voted seven to one in favour of the plan.
