Council threatened with legal action over 3G pitch

A council has been threatened with legal action if plans for a 3G football pitch are approved.

Campaigners have told East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) they believe Wood Lane playing fields in Louth is the wrong location for the artificial grass pitch, adding they would seek a judicial review if the planning is granted.

James Timson, leader of the Save Wood Lane group, said the authority "should be expanding football facilities on new sites, protecting existing green space and amenity in the process".

A spokesperson for ELDC said the application, due to go before planners on Thursday, is recommended for approval, but said it was unable to comment further.

Mr Timson said: "Residents have written to the council to say they will take legal action in the event of an approval on Thursday. In the first instance, this would take the form of an application for a judicial review into the planning process.

"In the event of the 3G [pitch] ever being built on Wood Lane Playing Field, residents would be forced into taking legal action to prove a statutory noise nuisance exists. It is very important that ELDC are aware of this now as many 3G pitches in England have been built in the wrong place, leading to abatement notices and full or partial closures."

Mr Timson claimed this "would be a disaster for the football community and local residents".

Commenting on the application, Sgt Kelly Palmer, of Lincolnshire Police's Wolds Neighbourhood Policing Team, indicated that the proposed development's 14ft- high (4.5m) wooden fence could impact crime and antisocial behaviour in the immediate area.

In a document, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she wrote: "The 100m [long] fence which runs along the boundary with the railway line will create a dark 'alley' between the fence and the hedgerow."

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