Problem with Chorley Council plans

12:12pm Monday 12th May 2008

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In recent years Chorley Council has not exactly been very friendly to our environment.

They have felled trees in the town centre, in Astley Park, Euxton Lane, Hartwood and at Lower Burgh.

And now they have turned their attention to the only piece of green park area in the town centre, the Coronation Recreation Ground, with a recent council planning application having been approved, by the council, to install lighting to this lovely leisure facility.

To quote the proposal, it is hoped that this lighting scheme, will eliminate problems that have been prevelant in the area, but unless extra staffing/policing is to be made available (no mention of this in these proposals), the grounds will become a haven for the wrong kind of people in the evening ie vandals, drug users, drinkers, etc thereby defeating the intended objective.

It is also proposed, that 14 floodlights (3.5kwatts of energy), will be suspended at a height of 20ft in the air above the bowling and tennis playing areas, to be lit seven nights a week, during the winter months.

Considering the usage that these playing areas will get, what a staggering waste of energy.

Also these floodlights will give the recreation grounds the appeal and appearance of a prison exercise yard.

The effects on the environment, and wildlife habitat of the grounds will be catastrophic (at night there are bats flying around here), not to mention the severe light intrusion and crowd noise that will be generated and imposed on local residences, whose objections to this scheme have been side-lined and ignored.

Also allowing young children onto this recreation ground after the hours of darkness will pose a serious threat to their safety, especially when only the central avenue will be illuminated after 10pm.

Walking through this Central Avenue at night will be a daunting experience for anyone brave enough to venture through it, wondering what 'danger' is lurking in the dark.

We need to think again about the possible dangers of this, and in this respect it would surely be more sensible to spend ratepayers money to provide a more substantial and secure perimeter fencing and MAKING SURE THAT IT WAS LOCKED UP EVERY EVENING, as the original guardians of this recreational facility, in their wisdom, took the precaution of doing.

Mr H J Goulding via email