Rayleigh Tennis Club have put in an planning application for floodlighting. Council officers are recommending that it be refused because of the effect it would have on neighbours. Unless a councillor ‘calls in’ the application by 1 pm tomorrow (Tuesday), the application will be refused.
Here’s an extract from the officers report:
Application No :
07/00088/FUL Zoning: Residential
…..
Location :
Rayleigh Tennis Club Watchfield Lane Rayleigh
Proposal :
Erect 18 x 8m Lamp Columns to Illuminate Three
Tennis Courts
Rayleigh Town Council: Object due to the detrimental impact upon
residential amenity of surrounding occupiers
NOTES
This application seeks to erect 18 x 8m lamp columns to illuminate three tennis courts. This application is accompanied by a lighting report indicating the light spillage.
The application site is located within the residential zone, to the west of Rayleigh Town Centre. The tennis club is accessed via an unmade road from High Road. This access road significantly drops in level, with High Road on high level ground and the club and its tennis courts on significantly lower ground levels. The tennis clubhouse is located close to bungalows located in Courtside. The car park is located on the northern portion of the site.
There are 5 tennis courts in all, known as Courts 1-5 (labelled west to east). This application seeks to illuminate Courts 3, 4 and 5…..…..
Resident Consultation: 65 Letters received from residents of Rayleigh and other surrounding areas. 49 letters from residents in Rayleigh and other surrounding districts wrote in to support the application. We also received 15 letter from neighbours to the site objecting to the proposal. There was also 1 neutral response…..
[Officer Recommendation:]
REFUSE
1 In the opinion of the Local Planning Authority, the floodlighting to the existing tennis courts would create a level of illumination to the site by reason of its location and intended hours of operation that would be detrimental to the amenity currently enjoyed by local residents immediately surrounding the site. Moreover, the illumination of the site would allow use of the site past times that would normally be expected, thereafter creating increased disturbance to adjoining occupiers.