Floodlighting - Justification and Amplification

The council's policy seeks to ensure a balanced approach in considering new floodlighting proposals whilst ensuring that environmental matters are given due weight. The benefits of floodlighting at sports and outdoor recreational facilities in extending operational hours is acknowledged. However, care must be taken to ensure that this will not cause unacceptable harm to amenity or prejudice public safety. Issues for consideration include the potential intensification of use of the facility, light pollution and increased traffic and noise generation. These issues will largely depend on the location of the proposal and the surrounding land uses. The most sensitive areas are likely to include residential areas, open areas and countryside and other areas sensitive in terms of character and natural and built heritage value. In this regard, bats are particularly sensitive to floodlighting and careful consideration of proposals must ensure no significant adverse impact on them and other protected species. In all cases, any floodlighting must be positioned and designed so as not to threaten public safety, for example by way of glare. Planning conditions may be used to restrict hours of use or secure other mitigation measures.