Park View Learning, a school in Chester-le-Street in County Durham, has had its planning proposal to install an artificial grass pitch rejected on appeal.
The proposed development was for an artificial grass pitch, a hardstanding area for spectators, six 15-metre high LED lighting columns and 3-metre high timber acoustic fencing. No changes were proposed to the onsite parking.
The proposed pitch would essentially have replaced an existing pitch and would have been available for use by the school and the wider community outside of school hours. This means it would have been used up to 9.30 pm on weekdays, up to 6 pm on Saturdays and up to 5 pm on Sundays.
The proposal was originally rejected by Durham County Council in April 2024, which was quashed by the High Court.
When this application went to appeal, Planning Inspector John Dowsett examined three main issues:
Mr Dowsett believed the proposal would increase the use of the site on weekday evenings and at weekends, which would increase noise, vehicle movements and potentially on-street parking. Any inconsiderate parking in the area would negatively impact local residents, especially if they become unable to park or have access to their homes blocked by other drivers. The vehicle traffic would also cause extra noise.
Whilst the appellant proposed an out-of-hours management strategy, it was deemed insufficient in mitigating the potential impact of increased parking demand, which would harm the living conditions of the nearby residents.
In the end, Mr Dowsett concluded that whilst there would be a number of benefits arising from the proposed development, there would be significant and lasting harm caused to those living nearby, particularly due to parking. As a result, the benefits of the development would not outweigh the negative impacts, so the appeal was dismissed and the proposal rejected.
