Taller floodlights for the university athletics track on Wilberforce Road won approval on 24 September over Newnham objections. Brooks Road render passed.
The university athletics track on Wilberforce Road will get new floodlights on taller columns. Cambridge City Council’s Planning Committee approved the scheme on Thursday 24 September, despite objections from Newnham residents who said the lights already shine into their homes.
The committee’s decision sheet records the approval as “with amendment as per discussion at committee”. It does not say what the amendment was. We will add it when the minutes are published.
What was approved
The application, 26/00318/FUL, came from the University of Cambridge. It replaces all 12 floodlight columns around the track. According to the officers’ report:
- the old columns are 8.5m (seven of them), 10.25m (three) and 16.5m (two)
- each carries three or four metal halide lamps
- all 12 new columns will be 18m tall, with a single LED head on each
- the lights can be dimmed, and lit in zones, so only the area in use is lit
The report says the current lights are at the end of their life. LED heads are heavier, so they cannot go on the old columns. Height is what lets the new lamps point straight down.
Why neighbours objected
Homes on Clerk Maxwell Road and Perry Court sit about 80 metres from the lights. Houses on Wilberforce Road and Adams Road are about 100 metres away. Student rooms on Hinsley Lane are about 30 metres away. Those distances are all from the report.
The report counts 34 comments: 19 objecting and 15 in support. Its own summary table gives a slightly different split, 17 against and 16 for. Objectors raised:
- light pollution and glare into homes
- the effect on the West Cambridge Conservation Area and on views of the city
- wildlife, including the Adams Road Bird Sanctuary
- more events, traffic and parking
The Newnham county councillor objected. So did the North Newnham Neighbourhood Forum, which said it supports good sports facilities but not this scheme as drawn. The council’s own Conservation Officer also objected, on heritage grounds.
One resident’s statement to the committee argued that safe running on the track did not need 18m columns. In their reading of the applicant’s lighting addendum, the extra height is needed for infield events such as throwing and pole vault in winter. They said that is an expansion of how the site is used.
Why officers backed it
Officers accepted “a low level of harm” to the conservation area and to the grade II listed Emmanuel College Pavilion. They judged that it was outweighed by the benefits. The report gives these figures for light on and around the track:
| Now | Approved scheme | |
|---|---|---|
| Light on the track | typically 200 to 400 lux, over 600 lux in places | about 120 lux on average |
| Light beyond the track | 200, 100 and 50 lux contours at the edges | generally below 20 lux, falling to 1 lux or less |
| Power per lamp (example given) | 400W metal halide | 120W LED |
Environmental Health said the light reaching every nearby home would stay below the 5 lux limit in the Institution of Lighting Professionals’ guidance, and did not object. The Ecology Officer said no light would reach the bird sanctuary at levels known to affect birds.
The report also says the university has “no intention” of adding training or competition sessions. Officers said that meant no case for an events and traffic plan.
This is not the first fight over lights here. A 1998 application for 16m floodlit columns was refused. Officers said that decision was more than 25 years old and made under different policy.
When the lights can be on
The conditions keep the hours from the site’s 2007 floodlight permission:
- 3.30pm to 6.30pm, on no more than five days a week
- 6.30pm to 9.30pm, on no more than three weekday evenings a week
- never after 6.30pm on a Saturday or Sunday
Building work is limited to 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, with none on Sundays or bank holidays.
The other decisions
The committee dealt with eight other applications, listed by the council on Friday.
| Site | Proposal | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| 34 council homes, Brooks Road, Romsey | External wall insulation (render) and triple glazing | Approved |
| 18 Carlton Way, West Chesterton | House to 11-bedroom HMO, with rear extension | Approved, with amendments |
| Land next to 49 New Square | Single-storey home with a basement | Refused |
| Same site | Listed building consent for works to the garden walls | Refused |
| Parker’s Piece | Two ground-mounted electrical cabinets | Approved |
| 69A Ditton Walk, Abbey | Outbuilding replaced by a single-storey extension | Approved, with amendment |
| 5 and 8 Laburnum Close, East Chesterton | Wall insulation and triple glazing | Approved |
| 3, 10, 11 and 12 The Grove, East Chesterton | Wall insulation and triple glazing | Approved |
Brooks Road is the biggest of these. The council is insulating 34 of its own houses on the road, which adds about 120mm of render to each wall, the officers’ report says. Officers called the change to the street’s look “relatively minor”. One neighbour objected in writing. A resident told the committee that the houses date from about 1937, were built as council homes in a local brick, and that 71 of the 72 in the group still have their original brick. They said alternatives such as brick slips had not been considered. The render colour will be chosen to match rendered homes nearby.
18 Carlton Way had already been refused once this year, as application 26/00154/FUL. Officers said the new plans fixed the reason for that refusal, which was a lack of shared living space and the noise that would follow in the garden. The application went to committee because ward councillor Cllr Dalzell called it in, arguing it was not substantially different from the refused scheme. The report records three residents’ objections.
New Square was refused on the officers’ advice. Their report said the walled garden’s open character contributes to the Kite Conservation Area and to the setting of the listed houses on Willow Walk. A new house would harm both.
What it means for you
- Near the track: the lights will still run on the same hours as now. If you think they breach the approved lighting levels or hours, report it to the council’s planning enforcement team, quoting 26/00318/FUL.
- On Brooks Road: the work covers only council-owned houses. The council’s decision notice, once issued, will set out the conditions, including delivery hours.
- Want to see it for yourself? The agenda page holds every report, the speakers’ statements and a link to the meeting recording.
All decisions are subject to the formal decision notices being issued. For more on what is going through the system, see our Cambridge planning news page.
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