Planners turn umpire over tennis club floodlights

St Ann's Tennis Club has applied to Brighton and Hove City Council for planning permission to install 15 floodlighting columns (8 metres tall) and two storage buildings at St Ann's Well Gardens in Hove. The application has divided the community, receiving 54 comments in support and 63 objections, with concerns raised over light pollution and harm to local wildlife including bats, birds, and badgers. The council's Planning Committee is set to decide on the plans, with a committee report backing the application subject to conditions restricting floodlight use to between 4pm and 9pm daily.