Neighbours complain Kent school 'behaving like banana republic' over lights compared to 'Blackpool illuminations'

Fed-up neighbours have compared bright lights on a nearby school which stay on until 10pm every night to the Blackpool Illuminations.

The Broadstairs residents say the “irritating” glare is still visible even when they have their curtains drawn. But bosses at Upton Junior School insist the security lights on the outside of its gym building in Edge End Road need to be kept on for health and safety reasons.

A planning condition says they should be switched off when the building is not in use – or only be activated by motion sensors. The school has applied to Thanet District Council (TDC) to change the rules to allow the lights to be kept on until 10pm every day except Sundays.

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A decision is set to be made on Wednesday evening (November 20) – and those living nearby are urging councillors to reject the bid.

Linda Judd, who lives nearby, said that the lights – of which there are 10 in total – beam into her windows at night. “Blackpool Illuminations – that’s how I describe it,” she said. “They’re very bright and totally unnecessary. Even when I have the curtains drawn round the edge of the curtains you can see it.”

The Blackpool Illuminations are described as the “greatest free light show on Earth”, with six miles of “traditional festoons, tableaux and interactive features” along the Lancashire town’s promenade.

Andrew McCulloch, who also lives nearby, says school bosses are ignoring residents’ concerns and behaving like a “banana republic”.

He said: “My main problem is not so much the lights, which are irritating more than anything else. It’s the fact the school have very clearly made no great effort to comply with the condition that was applied to them in the original planning application. Neighbourliness is what’s called for here and they don’t do neighbourliness at that school.”

He continued: “The way I look at it is they are happy to allow the behaviour of their management which they would not accept from their pupils. We just think it’s time the school took us into account instead of just taking off like some sort of banana republic doing what they feel like.”

The gym building was approved by TDC in 2021. Since the summer of 2022, the lights have been on a timer to switch off at 10pm – the end of the site’s operational hours.

In its application to change the rules, the school says turning the lights on and off has “proved problematic to implement”.

It says: “The hall is used by community groups outside of school times. However, the times between users requires the lights to be turned off. This means when the school day finishes the lights are required to be turned off and later need turning back on again for evening use.”

They add that the car park is often busy with people using a swimming pool in a separate building within the school grounds, so motion sensors would be “a nuisance to all”.

Instead, bosses want to change the conditions so they are only banned from keeping the lights on outside of permitted hours. These would be 8am to 10pm Monday to Saturday – including outside term time and on bank holidays – and 9am to 8pm on Sundays.

In October, the application was discussed by TDC’s planning committee. Cllr Kristian Bright (Lab), who represents the area, said at the time that the light “does look a little bit excessive”. However, the decision was deferred for officials to look into the impact of the light pollution.

Now the final call is set to be made by TDC’s planning committee, with officers recommending members approve the change of conditions.

Michaela Lewis, executive head teacher of the Viking Academy Trust – which runs Upton Junior and two other primaries in Thanet – says they are “extremely mindful of our community role” and want to “come to an amicable conclusion”.

“It is important to understand that turning the safety and security lights off when the hall is not in use during the agreed operational hours during darkness compromises the safety of users arriving and leaving in the dark,” she said.

“The security lights are operated by timers as per our agreed operational hours as listed in the planning conditions from the council. Our major concern is for the safety of our children and other community users of the sports hall and swimming pool with regards to suitable agreed lighting that meets stringent health and safety requirements.”

Ms Lewis says the sports hall is a much-needed facility and is also available to community groups as part of the school’s outreach programme.

She added: “The intention was – and remains – to provide a positive resource that can be used at agreed times in and out of school hours to benefit fitness, health and wellbeing.”