Plans to light up the city centre’s oldest building at night have been likened to a “Benidorm disco”.
Brighton and Hove City Council has submitted plans to install 17 LED lights around St Nicholas’s Church in DYke Road.
The application, submitted by Liz Davies from Cityparks, says it wants to celebrate and preserve the 14th century church, and make it a “community beacon”.
But one objector, whose details have been redacted by the council, is not impressed.
They said: “Installing this Benidorm style disco lighting in a conservation area is an appalling idea and is not in keeping with this dignified, much loved building, and its gorgeous setting.
“I am sceptical of the accuracy of the bat survey, and know from my scientific expertise on light pollution that this will be harmful to humans as well as wildlife.”
The application says: “The application is to install modern, smart controlled LED exterior lighting to illuminate and enhance the historical facade.
“The bespoke lighting design makes use of new technology to up-light the walls and tower, with full control to minimize light-spill, and reduce the impact on neighbours and wildlife.”
It adds: “With modern smart controlled LED lighting it was considered appropriate to both illuminate and potentially add colour to the church for differing festivals or occasions without affecting either light pollution or spill the previous sodium floodlight systems would have caused.”
A bat survey was carried out for the council by Arbtech Consulting, who said in a report submitted with the application: “The survey was required in line with legislation for installation of lighting on the church and surrounding trees.
“No bat roosts were identified at the site. However, bats are highly mobile creatures that switch roosts regularly and therefore the usage of a site by bats can change over a short period of time.
“Any bats that begin using the building or tree during the intervening period between the surveys being undertaken and works commencing could be disturbed and abandon their roosts.
“Therefore, a sensitive lighting strategy will be implemented.”
Do you have a council reference for this application please, Jo?
Words almost fail me, but not quite. So, does the council own the church and land and, if they do, then why is taxpayers’ money being spent on a bat survey by consultants and a load of dubious LED lighting? Does the council have nothing better to do or spend our money on?
If dfferent iexterrnal lighting is needed for St Nick’s (and I can’t see any proper reason for it in the article, apart from some typically vague council-speak) then why can it not be sensitive and in keeping with the rich history of the church.
I agree .. the curse of architectural lighting has destroyed the mystery of Luxor and the pyramids in Egypt making the whole place look like Las Vegas
St Nicolas is an ancient place and to trip it out with gaudy disco lighting is deeply offensive
For a city that can’t even afford to provide public toilets this is obscene
You are so right – and it’s even worse that the council is proposing it. Offensive and obscene doesn’t even touch the sides of this application.
On a funnier note, just to lighten the mood a touch, I once went to a Son et Lumiere somewhere in India, I think, but it may have been Egypt. We were assured that there would be an English ‘son’ – there wasn’t, and the lumiere was just about passable, but we didn’t; have a clue about what was going on. But that’s quirky and odd overseas, which you might expect, and you can have a bit of a laugh about the ineptitude – not one of the most important heritage sites in B&H. So some council official with nothing at all useful to do has a ‘bright LED light-bulb moment’ and spends our money on it off her own bat. ‘ Unacceotable and she should be sacked, but that will never happen. . Perhaps CityParks could concentrats on parks, as their title suggests. St Nick’s and its graveyard is not a park, council please note!
If Jo can tell us the ref for this application, I’m sure we can muster enough objections to get it to Planning Committee – rather than the council approving its own offensive application.
You can search the planning applications portal using just the address or post code
You don’t need the reference
I wonder if our council would ever consider doing this with a mosque.
Boom. Wondered when the racists would enter the discussion. Have you seen the lights on the Coptic Orthodox church on Davigdor Road recently? Covered in fairy lights. But it’s Christian isn’t it. Although not your kind I guess.
LEDs are more efficient and spill less light. If they’re going to use them, they might as well be colour changeable. ‘Disco’ is hardly the correct term for it
So the council is closing valued primary schools and a nursery not to mention public toilets for budget reasons yet is prepared to allocate funds for disco lighting on a historic church?
This council official (apparently the council is using developer contributions from other projects for funding) can’t even get the name of the church right – it’s St Nicholas of Myra, not Myrna, as stated in the documents, and most of the info seems to have been gleaned from reference books, making it sound as if the official is very knowledgeable about the history. She has also had several goes at the documentation, which doesn’t inspire confidence. However, we are assured that all and sundry concerned are on board with this initiative, despite the fact that the council doesn’t own the church but is apparently responsible for the graveyard. This seems to have been going on for a very long time (like years) and to have had a fair bit of money spent on reports etc – is this really the best use of developer contributions?
I have an inherent objection to council officials who can ‘mark their own homework’ and redact all their contact info in the application, so let’s hope at least that a few more objections can be acquired to get it to Planning Committee for a hopefully proper airing. The result may still be approval but at least it will get into the public domain.
It’s absolutely terrible that any religion should present its churches as something like a ‘Benidorm Disco’.
Churches are places for reflecting that everything you do is a sin that ultimately you will be punished for everything you do. Making a church a fun place is a sin. It is a place for piousness and damnation. It is a place to cast out those that do not hang their heads in shame for being born with their ‘original sin’. Imagine people that dare to feel alive, a feeling of being alive that their Lord was denied.
Lights? May God punish us our evil ways.
Sorry, but I detest all religions and believe we would all be far better off if we stopped the infantile nonsense immediately.
This Council has seriously lost it’s way and has no idea of essential priorities. As they have mismanaged finances and heading for a massive and disgraceful end of budget year shortfall (M£319) this is a brain dead suggestion for more profligate waste!
This application brings shame on my home town 4th generation living on Montpelier Crescent. It would not only affect the church but the setting of neighbouring listed Gothick Wykeham Terrace charming!
The fact the area is dark at night is all part of its essential character. So hands off dumbing downers! Try turning Whitehawk into a ‘hub:😷
It turns out that the lurid picture at the top of this article is NOT (as it’s labelled) “an example of how the church could be lit up using colour”. It is actually a lighting engineer’s technical diagram which shows the intensity of light on the various areas of the external walls of the church. It has absolutely nothing to do with the colour of the lights.
So the proposals being made for the external lighting of the church are not at all like a Benidorm disco! In fact the illumination will be quietly warm, calm, and static. The lighting will gently draw the eye to Brighton’s oldest remaining building — and will also serve to make the churchyard safer at night and less prone to anti-social behaviour.
The bat survey showed that not a single bat lives in the belfry at present and it’s also the case that the funds for this project are coming from a grant outside the Council’s general funding pot. I understand too that the Church will be picking up the bill for electricity to run the lighting and this is precisely because of the safety benefit to those crossing the churchyard at night.
What a shame that this historic old church is to be lit up like a Christmas tree….. Subtle lighting would be preferred. Save the gaudy lights for the Pier and along the coast for tourists to “enjoy”……..not the residential area around this ancient church. My past relatives attended this church. It is a shame that some would think Benidorm Brighton would be suitable for a residential area.