Theatre and college sports pitches could still make a good match

BOAT is an important and much-valued cultural facility, and its continued operation should be protected.

The concerns raised about noise, lighting and the wider experience of performances are therefore entirely legitimate planning considerations.

At the same time, the assessment should be based on the likely effects of the proposal rather than on an assumption that sporting and cultural uses are necessarily incompatible.

If the evidence demonstrates that the proposed pitch can operate without causing unacceptable harm to BOAT, that should carry significant weight.

Where concerns remain, they can also be addressed through appropriate controls on hours of use, lighting, amplified sound and other operational matters.

The council has previously had to balance similar considerations in relation to sports facilities in Dyke Road Park, the tennis club, citing our own sports policies.

The important principle for the BHASVIC application is that visual impact, lighting, noise, biodiversity and community benefit should be considered together as part of the overall planning balance.

The council also has a clear policy case for supporting improved sports provision where an identified need exists.

The national planning policy framework supports the protection and enhancement of biodiversity, culture and the provision of accessible sporting facilities.

These objectives as well as BOAT’s concerns do not have to be treated as mutually exclusive.

The task before the Planning Committee is to ensure that impacts are properly assessed, mitigated where necessary and weighed against the wider benefits of the proposal.

For me, the key considerations are therefore the identified need for additional sporting capacity, the efficient use of an existing education site and whether the potential impacts can be satisfactorily managed.

There is an opportunity to accommodate two valuable community assets successfully: BOAT as an established cultural venue and improved sporting facilities serving students and potentially the wider community.

The objective should be to secure the right safeguards so that one can develop without undermining the other.

I would reiterate, sporting and cultural uses must not be seen as necessarily incompatible and the council’s policy position supports that.

Professor Samer Bagaeen is a toen planning expert and an Independent councillor who represents Westdene and Hove Park ward on Brighton and Hove City Council.