LAST CHANCE FOR INTERNATIONAL CRICKET IN BRISTOL
27 April 2015
Bristol City Council’s Planning Officer has again recommended the proposed floodlights at Gloucestershire County Cricket Club (GCCC) for approval. Following the deferral in February the Club has been working with residents and officers to develop the plans and provide further information on the proposal.
As requested by the Council, the Club has also submitted a report providing additional information on the different types of floodlights that have been considered. Along with sport lighting specialists Musco and Abacus, the Club has employed an independent lighting engineer to review their original plans. All have agreed that the six column option at 45m is the best solution for the County Ground. Also, the England and Wales Cricket Board has stated that this option is the only one they will support.
Will Brown, Chief Executive of GCCC, said: “We have spent the last two months working tirelessly to provide Committee Members with the information they asked for on 4 February. We hope that this information – along with the Officer’s Report and Recommendation and the Floodlight Usage Management Plan – is sufficient to address Committee Members’ questions. We have seen great support from all sections of the Bristol community so we know the public and business communities are behind us. We want to bring International sport into the heart of Bristol and approving this application is the only way it can happen.”
The Club’s aim is to install floodlights to allow it to continue to stage International cricket in Bristol. One of the top priorities for the Bristol Sports Commission, formed by Mayor George Ferguson, which incorporates businesses, educational and community groups and sports clubs from across the region was for Bristol to host Cricket World Cup games. The Club has now been awarded 4 Cricket World Cup games in 2019, but without permanent floodlights these matches would be lost to Bristol.
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Notes:
Gloucestershire County Cricket Club has been consulting with local people since the previous Committee Meeting and originally since July 2014. They have made some further changes to the lights, such as providing a more rounded lighting head, and have agreed more detail on how the lights would be used in a ‘Floodlight Usage Management Plan’. This Floodlight Usage Management Plan has been drawn up in partnership with local residents and offers Bristol City Council further control over the use of the floodlights, including:
- Limiting the number of times the lights would be used each calendar year to no more than 15
- Limiting times of use to no earlier than 10.00am and no later than 11.00pm, unless otherwise agreed in writing with Bristol City Council
- Reducing the lighting levels of the floodlights immediately after matches finish
- Restrictions to timings for match play for Evening T20 Matches, Day/Night 50 over Matches and 4-day Matches
- Maintenance & Testing and restrictions to minimise impact of neighbours
- Providing notice to neighbours with details of the floodlight matches by the end of March each year
Full details can be found
