County Durham residents fear floodlights will obstruct views of castle

A redevelopment of the facilities at the Riverside, Chester-le-Street, will see the existing floodlight system replaced with new 18m and 12m high LED lights, 6m higher than those currently in place around the athletics track and football pitch.

Durham County Council said the alterations are needed  to achieve the required Football Association (FA) standard of lighting for football on the centre pitch.

However, objectors in nearby properties said the new lights will lead to an increase in noise, disturbance, and anti-social behaviour.

Some residents also fear the view of Lumley Castle will be blocked by the lights and their tall columns.

Lumley Castle is a picturesque local landmark nearby (Image: PA)

But council officers said they believed a replacement lighting scheme would not lead to an increase in crime and that the landscape and visual effects arising from the proposed changes would not be significant.

A council planning report added: “The proposal will not unduly affect the castles prominence, degrade the visual quality of any views nor add cumulatively to the existing impact. The impact overall would be minor and not at a level that would create harm to the heritage assets setting.”

A total of 47 letters of objection and 41 letters of support were received out of 117 notices sent to neighbouring properties.

In support, residents said the new floodlights are more energy efficient, create less light pollution and would benefit young children’s exercise.

The floodlights will primarily be used in the Autumn and Winter months between the hours of 2pm-10pm.

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The report added: “Officers are satisfied that the illumination levels and proposed hours of use would not lead to unacceptable impacts on residential amenity or ecological interests in the wider area.”

The application was approved by councillors at a planning meeting.

The approval paves the way for a renovation of the Riverside leisure complex, which include two new 3G pitches, a refurbishment of the athletics track and general renovations to the pavilion, as part of Durham County Council’s leisure transformation programme.

How the new 3G pitches could look (Image: The Northern Echo)