The headteacher of St Aidan’s Church of England High School has said he is “absolutely delighted” that councillors have given the school the green light to build a floodlit artificial sports pitch.
Harrogate Borough Council’s planning committee approved the plan yesterday, subject to conditions on lighting and flooding, despite it being recommended for refusal.
Headteacher Chris Burt told the Stray Ferret the school was looking forward to building the new pitch.
He said:
‘”We are absolutely delighted with the outcome of the planning committee meeting.
“We will be working hard to address the further questions and concerns and look forward to bringing this facility to St Aidan’s and the wider community’’
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The pitch will be built on existing playing fields.
The application generated considerable interest after the Stray Ferret published an article on Tuesday saying the plans were recommended for refusal.
Harrogate Borough Council’s planning portal subsequently received a surge of pro-school comments, with those classed as favourable jumping from 3 to 123.
Many online comments also backed the proposal and urged local residents that had complained about light pollution to support the school. One said:
“Come on local residents, please be selfless about this: think about someone outside of you. In particular, young people who have been absolutely bulldozed over this year.
Some people on social media have hailed “people power” for helping to influence councillors’ decisions.
However, divisions remain. One reader, who asked to remain anonymous, contacted the Stray Ferret today to express their displeasure at the outcome.
They said:
“Do these people who are agreeing to this planning application realise that nearby residents could lose up to 10% of their house valuation if this floodlighting goes ahead?
“Also it won’t be long before some organisations will want to use it late at night.”
