A REVAMP of a primary school playground has had the go-ahead with a council warned to carefully consider any potential disruption to neighbouring homes.
The existing school yard at Cwmbran’s Our Lady of the Angels Roman Catholic Primary will be replaced with a sand-dressed 2G artificial grass pitch suitable for football and other sports.
The remainder of the existing tarmacadam playground will be resurfaced with new court markings for netball and pickleball.
Eight-metre-high poles for new floodlighting will also be provided around the pitch and courts allowing them to be used until 9pm Monday to Friday and by community groups outside of school hours.
But following feedback from the council’s environmental health department education officials agreed to reduce use on Saturdays and Sundays, and on bank holidays, to 5pm, having originally asked for permission up until 9pm throughout the week.
No public objections
The council contacted 33 neighbouring properties and no objections or other comments were received from the public.
But the environmental health department warned any potentially impacts needed to be carefully considered, and appropriate conditions attached to the permission, as it wouldn’t be able to take action in the usual way if complaints over noise or light intrusion are made in future.
Environmental health told the planning department: “As the proposed facility would be operated on land owned and managed by Torfaen County Borough Council, the Housing Safety & Environmental Protection Team would be unable to pursue enforcement action under the statutory nuisance provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to address any future complaints of light intrusion or noise.”
The department said it agreed reducing the hours the facilities could be used would help mitigate impacts on local residents while it also said it was satisfied the measures to reduce light spill from introducing floodlighting at the Victoria Street school.
Those include compliance with technical brightness limits, shields to the lighting and assurance the fittings can be further adjusted and shielded if needed.
Planning officer Mia McAndrew, whose report approved the application, said the conditions on use of the facilities and floodlights are in line with other school pitches near residential properties.
A management plan setting out how the courts are booked, who would control the site and who would turn the lights off as well as contact details for any potential complaints will also have to be approved by the planning department as a condition.
Fencing has also been approved which Ms McAndrew said would be of “a considerable height but necessary to facilitate the development” and wouldn’t look out of place within the existing school yard.
Existing school parking will be available for visitors outside school hours while there is a public car park next to the adjoining doctor’s surgery.
The council referred to the school as Cwmbran Roman Catholic Primary in its application documents and decision report.