Artificial turf has been approved for Eastbourne United football club despite opposition from residents.
People living near the ground argued the scheme would bring a huge increase in pitch use and traffic as well as adversely affecting the environment.
The club has welcomed the decision as the catalyst to attract more community use to The Oval in Princes Park throughout the year.
A statement on its website said: “It brings about massive change at the club, as we secure our future and are able to offer a top-notch surface not only to our teams, but also to the community to hire.”
Eastbourne Borough Council‘s planning committee approved the installation of a synthetic turf pitch, a resurfaced parking area with 81 marked spaces and widened access off Sidley Road.
The application was recommended for approval on condition that biodiversity requirements were met.
Senior officer Neil Collins told the planning meeting on Monday (July 17) that the initial idea was to raise the playing surface but the area is in a flood risk zone so this was revised. Some of the top soil will instead be removed to create a 20cm high border around the site for wildflowers.
He also said that officers disagreed with proposed operating hours of 9am to 10pm. The maximum would instead be 9am to 9pm Monday to Thursday, 9am to 7pm on Fridays and 9am to 6pm Saturdays. There are currently about three matches a week for part of the year.
The club can also host up to nine competitive evening games through the year, except July, until 10.30pm at the latest.
Neighbour Angela Homsy, who lives in Sidley Road, addressed the meeting, saying she represented about 70 residents who objected to the plans.
“This is a seismic shift,” she told councillors, saying the change would mean more than 19 clubs playing at the ground and many other tournaments six days a week all the year round.
This would, she suggested, lead to “vastly increased traffic” in an area already under pressure when the seafront was busy.
Ms Homsy said the plan ignored the council’s plan to be carbon neutral by 2030 while Eastbourne Eco Action Network also objected, saying the artificial surface would cause the ground to heat and it was bad for soil, wildlife and biodiversity.
Matt Thompson, Eastbourne United chair and a member of the consortium financing the project, told councillors there was an urgent need for this type of sporting facility in Eastbourne.
He said Sport England, a Government body which distributes lottery funding, was in favour of the plan. There were plans to hold walking football sessions for older people and activities to improve mental wellbeing.
Mr Thompson said: “We have worked with local residents, holding a Q&A at the club to explain the project. We have listened to their concerns and looked at what we can do about parking, traffic flow, ecology, wildlife and lighting improvements,” he said.
“We have worked tirelessly with the council to create better parking and biodiversity. We feel the area deserves to be enhanced – this will help improve the area.”
He added that the ground had been on the site since 1947 and the floodlights since 1958 so the club was enhancing the facility, not building a new one.
Ward councillor Christina Ewbank (Lib Dem, Devonshire), above left, told the meeting Princes Park was “a jewel in the crown” of Eastbourne.
She said artificial turf could mean that microplastics leach into nearby Crumbles Pond: “It really does not sit well with the policy of this council, which is to achieve carbon zero by 2030.”
Committee member Coun Candy Vaughan ((Lib Dem, Langney), above right, said Priory Lane in Langney, home of Eastbourne Borough football club, had an artificial pitch and activities such as walking football there were very successful.
“I think we should look at this in a positive way because we are going to get so much more interest in sport,” she added.
The application was approved by five councillors, with one abstention, subject to agreement over ecology and biodiversity.
Eastbourne United plays in the Southern Combination Football League.
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Eastbourne is expecting to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. This kind of initiative will act as a barrier to achieving this goal. I would like to meet with the people who approved this development in order to hear about your strategies for your own club to reach carbon neutrality by then. What are your targets for next year, for example?