Surrey primary school's bid for 'eyesore' 3G sports pitch thrown out as 120 neighbours object
A primary's plans to build a 3G pitch on its school field has been thrown out. Planners had recommended Shawley Community Primary School in Epsom Downs be allowed to build the artificial grass pitch, with fencing and floodlighting, but councillors rejected it.
It came after a resident, who said he represented 120 neighbours, raised concerns about the extra noise and disruption extended use of the pitch after school and at weekends would cause to those living nearby.
Headteacher of the Shawley Way school, Kate Ashworth, also addressed the planning committee at Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, telling members the school, recently rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, was lucky to have generous grounds, “however the field is often useless due to our inclement and changeable weather, especially in winter”.
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“The facility will provide students with more consistent sporting opportunities whilst also ensuring the local community gains access to the facility, primarily at weekends and also after school,” she said. The pitch was to be for use by children aged under 12 only, she told councillors.
However, resident David Kieran told the committee the pitch would be an “eyesore” and have a detrimental impact on residents, with extra noise and parking issues. He said it would be used for 29 hours outside the school day per week, plus in school holidays, and residents would “have to endure a significant level of noise harm every time the pitch is used”.
The council’s head of planning, Andrew Benson, explained at the meeting on September 4 the hours of use had already been reduced from those originally proposed, including to finishing at 3pm on a Saturday and 2pm on a Sunday, and were considered an “acceptable level”, without the need for an acoustic fence.
“There is an acute need for improved sports provision,” he told the committee. “We have a playing pitch strategy that sets out that need and this would help meet that need within the community, as well as for the schoolchildren.”
A number of councillors however echoed concerns about the impact of the pitch on immediate roads and neighbours. Councillor Nick Harrison said he was a supporter of the school, having been a governor there for 20 years. But he said the academy had “failed” to take neighbours with it on the pitch plan, and he repeated concerns over noise and parking.
Councillors voted, by eight to two, with four abstentions, to reject the scheme, deeming “the hours of use beyond school hours, into the evenings and weekends, combined with the potential for significant numbers of car movements at these times, would give rise to a substantial level of noise, disturbance and disruption for neighbouring residents, harmful to their residential amenities and contrary to [council policies].”
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