Easington Sports and Social Club, Addison Road, Banbury, OXON OX169DH Floodlight and Spectator Stand Planning Application January 2013 Prepared by Richard Meadows 4 Kedleston Rise Banbury OXON OX16 9TX Tel: 07748152785 richard.meadows2005@tesco.net 1
Contents Page Section Item Page Project Objective 3 Introduction and Background 4 Pre-Application Advice 5 Support for the project 5 Floodlight Design 9 Luminaire Performance and Control 10 Floodlight Usage 11 LT Super Mini Grandstand designs 12 Access 16 Conclusion 17 Technical Drawings 18 2
Project Objective Easington Sports FC (ESFC) is a well known and respected community club in North Oxfordshire, and for many, is seen as the second most senior team in the Banbury area. The club was formed in the immediate post-war period of 1945/46 to fulfil the sporting and social needs of the young people of the Easington housing estate in Banbury, many of whom were returning from war service. Although times have changed and the catchment area served has grown, the club s committee remain determined to provide football opportunities at the best possible standard for as many age ranges as we can. After a period of uncertainty between 2008-11, a new committee was formed in July 2011 with new energy and a determination to improve the ambitions of the club again. Over the last 14 months, membership has increased significantly and 5 new teams including an adult learning difficulties side have been added with a commitment to adding 2 further teams for the start of 2013/14 season as part of Grow the Game funding from the Football Foundation. We now have a healthy minis section with improving links with local primary schools which should enable the club to develop youth teams over a longer period. With a clear structure set out for youth team development, this planning application marks the start of our next phase of improvement. ESFC adult teams currently play in the Hellenic Division with the first team playing at step 6 of the Football Non League Pyramid. A successful planning application would allow the club to meet Football Association (FA) ground grading requirements for this level of football. We need to provide covered seating and floodlights for our playing area. We also require floodlights to enter an under 18s team to play in the Midland Combination Youth team leagues that will provide the bridge between adult and youth team football. This is equally important, and vital, in our attempts to address our longer term aims. Finally, if planning applications are passed Easington Sports will be able to enter into national competitions such as the FA Vas and FA Cup. This is again of real importance to the club as it is keen to return to its former status within the Banbury area and wishes to ensure young adults do not have to travel out of the Banbury catchment to play football at this standard. 3
Introduction and Background Easington Sports and Social Club is located to the South of Banbury in the Easington Estate at the end of Addison Road. The area is a residential area and the Easington Sports land is bordered on two sides by residential properties and Blessed George Napier School on the other two sides. Easington Sports and Social Club Addison Road Banbury Oxon OX16 9DH 4
Pre Application Advice Prior to the commencement of the project we held an informal meeting with Philip Rolls from Cherwell District Council and Councillor Kieron Mallon to seek advice on the best possible options to take ESFC forward in the long term. As a consequence of this meeting and numerous applications, we have secured over 40,000 of funding to make improvements to the existing site at Addison Road and a further 5000 from the Football Foundation to help promote and re-establish teams at the junior level. We have sought advice from Mark Cockerill from Right Results Project Management Limited and he is helping to oversee this project to ensure we are addressing all key issues at each stage. For instance, Mr Cockerill has met with MUSCO Lighting to listen to the information provided to club officials to ensure all the correct technical questions were addressed by the company at our initial meeting. Right Results Project Management have also offered technical advice on an additional 3 phase power supply onto the site and we now have a firm quotation for the full costs of connection works carried out by Western Power. The planning drawings for this aspect of connection have also been included with this application. Further advice has been provided by Oxfordshire FA, The Football Foundation and Phil Rolls since this initial meeting to develop a strategy for the procurement of funds via grants to Sport England, The FA and The Football Foundation Stadia Improvement Fund. There has also been contact with the Planning Department at Cherwell District Council to discuss the contents of a planning application. Finally, we have received written correspondence from Mr R Sangster on behalf of the Addison Road Residents Committee Road to outline their concerns regarding the developments. Easington Sports are very mindful of the residents and have listened carefully during discussion with Mr Sangster and wish to continue to work with the residents. Where possible, this application addresses their concerns. Support for the Project On the following pages is the letter to residents and a further letter of support from John Woodworth on behalf of the Blessed George Napier School. We also have the support from Councillor Kieron Mallon 5
Luminaire Performance and Control MUSCO Lighting are Easington Sports Chosen supplier of floodlights and have already installed lighting systems within the Cherwell District Catchment at Tudor Hall Girls School near to Bloxham. This company provide unique lighting systems that attempt to minimise the light pollution and guarantee their performance for 10 years. This company is also approved by the International Dark Sky Association as they aim to minimise light pollution that might affect Astronomy. The luminaire chosen has sharp cut-off cowls to minimise and remove upward and backward light pollution and enhances the photometric performance to improve luminaire efficiency. The planning drawings have been submitted with a Lux plot that demonstrates the light spill outside of the site boundary. I have used this alongside Google Earth to overlay the information as accurately as I can to show the Lux levels in relation to resident s homes. I hope this helps to show how MUSCO have tried to design a system that reduces the light pollution as much as possible. We have also had 2 further quotations and floodlight plans. We have opted for MUSCO lighting as they were able to get the necessary levels of light for Football Association requirements using just 4 columns. The other companies were looking to use 6 columns and so this again shows how we have considered the neighbours concerns to minimise the disruption to views. 6
Flood Lighting Design Design Standards The flood lighting system has been designed in accordance with: CIBSE LG4 Lighting Design Code for Sports Lighting CIBSE FF7 Environmental Considerations for Exterior Lighting (2003) Football Foundation Data Sheet 6 for Football Pitches and Floodlights Football Association Ground Grading Data Sheet for teams at Steps 5 and 6 BS EN 12193: 2003 Light and lighting Sports lighting Institute of Lighting Engineers: Lighting the Environment _ A guide to good urban lighting (1995) Institute of Lighting Engineer Guides to Light Pollution Design of Flood Light System for Easington Sports and Social Club The flood lighting design is for a 4no column solution, 2no to each side of the football pitch. The flood lights shall be positioned approximately 35m from the half way line in each half and opposite one another. The columns shall be route mounted in a concrete cylinder foundation and stand 18m from the ground level to the top of the column. Each column shall have 4no 1500W metal halide floodlights mounted on each. The design shall provide a constant light level of 200 Lux average and 0.6 min/avg uniformity. 7
Flood Light Usage The floodlight usage would be limited to the length of the football season: Saturday s through Daylight Saving Time months 1530 to 1800hrs (18.00 hrs latest if Cup matches normal finish time 17.00hrs) Maximum of 2no evenings during the working week from Start of July to End of May (end of the season normally the end of April) 1800hrs to 2200hrs 8
LT Super Mini Grandstand designs Both the LT Super Mini Grandstand for seating and standing arrive on site prefabricated and fully assembled and will be mounted and bolted to a concrete base. The grandstand sections are fabricated in painted paintbox section steel and clad roof and back in box profile steel cladding finished in low maintenance plastic coating. We are likely to use goosewing grey for the colour on the seated and standing side of the grandstand and then olive green on the rear of the stands to help them blend in with the surroundings and to reduce the visual pollution. This can be seen in the images provided. Within the tiered seated structure 56 floor fixed tip up seats are fitted at 460mm centres. Each seat is made from polypropylene and will be a mixture of red and white seats to go with Easington Sports colours. Dimensions of the seated stand are 9.370M wide X 2.236M, having a rear floor height of 0.45m and rise between rows of 160mm. The seating configuration can be seen in the Arena Supplied picture from Hengrove AFC and are included in this planning application. We would like to apply for one LT Super Mini Grandstand to meet step 6 ground grading criteria. The position of this stand is shown in red on the Google Earth screen shot. The LT Mini Grandstand has been situated on the far side of the Playing surface. This is to encourage supporters to stand away from local residents. The LT Mini Grandstand is the only design that can fit within the space on this side of the pitch and again ensures the impact on the local residents is minimised. 9
The Grandstand is positioned 47.5 metres from the perimeter fence separating BGN school and Easington Sports Site, 0.25 metres in from the site boundary rail. Finally, it is situated 15 metres from the centre line of the pitch The width of box is measured to scale using Google Earth to show the size in relation to the pitch. 10
Pictures of 2 super mini grandstands from Hook Norton FC website. This shows capacity for 100 seats. Further pictures are available from Arena Seating 11
Access and Additional Parking The design of the Floodlighting system and the positioning of LT Super Mini Grandstands do not affect the current entrance to the football club and its associated parking. Provision will be made for additional car parking space for match days as shown below. Mid week matchday kick off times of 19.30 to 19.45pm do not clash with current peak flows exiting from Blessed George Napier School. Funding is already in place to prepare the surface with type 1 hardcore This space will accommodate approximately 2 rows of 13 cars 12
Conclusion It is hoped that the proposal of the flood lighting system shall enhance the facility and the community offering of the football club. The club is committed to providing much improved facilities and a level of football on offer to the Banbury area and give an offering for generations of players to come. The club has massive ambitions to have a sustainable future and be the club of choice for young players. The flood Lights have been designed to minimise the number of columns and the selection of the luminaire has excellent photometric performance and reduced light spill technology, this reduces the spill of illumination upwards and beyond the site boundary. LT Super Mini Grandstands offer an excellent product at an appropriate price for football clubs of our size and can be adapted to fit with all local planning requirements. Local community support for our application is growing and there is much wider support for the improvements we are looking to make in order to shift the emphasis at Easington Sports and Social Club towards a community based club. We wish to have the backing of Cherwell District Council to continue the clubs development. 13
Technical drawings for: MUSCO Floodlight System Arena Seating LT Mini Grandstands Western Power Electrical Installation 14