Theatre in 'jeopardy' due to football pitch plans

An open air theatre says it is under threat from plans to put a floodlit football pitch and multi-use games area near the site.

Brighton Open Air Theatre (Boat) said the artificial grass pitch, which has been put forward by Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC), would "jeopardise" its future.

Will Mytum, the charity's general manager, said: "Sustained shouting, ball impacts on fencing and whistling from dozens of people across several hours would utterly overwhelm anything on our stage."

In a planning statement from planning consultancy Whaleback, it said "mechanisms" were in place to ensure there were no "harmful impacts in terms of noise and light" during performance times.

More than 550 people have objected to the plans, while four have sent letters of support, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mytum said the pitch would be about 50m [164ft] from the theatre's boundary and would "render any non-amplified performance utterly unviable".

"We are not exaggerating when we say that the future of the theatre would be in serious jeopardy if these plans go ahead," he added.

The general manager said the theatre, in Dyke Road Park, was not against the idea of better sports facilities for students at the college and that it engaged with BHASVIC about the proposal development.

Boat, which is a non-profit registered charity, said it put forward proposals to limit the use of the pitch from May to September when the theatre staged shows.

However, Mytum said nothing Boat discussed with the college had been adopted in the proposal.

BHASVIC principal William Baldwin said: "We always knew that our proposal would not be universally supported.

"As part of our submission, we actively engaged with local residents, stakeholders and user groups over a three-month period this summer.

"Planning is a democratic process and we respect the right of all voices to be heard.

"My hope is that the clear educational benefits, the promotion of physical exercise and the needs of young people and the community will lead to the approval of this project."

Baldwin said the current field could not be used for high-level sports teams as it was sloping and "not safe", so the college had to take students off site to train.

The principal said he was willing to talk to Boat "about compromise".

"What I don't want is: 'Let's not build these pitches at all.' Because our students need them and this college needs them, and this city quite frankly needs them," he added.

A draft community use agreement, submitted as part of the application, would permit sports until 22:00 from Monday to Thursday, until 18:00 on Saturdays and 14:00 on Sundays.

On Fridays, the sports pitches would be available to the public until 18:00 during term-time and 14:00 during holidays.

The noise management plan, drawn up by Surfacing Standards Limited, said a member of staff would monitor noise when pitches were in use and neighbours would be given contact details should they need to complain.

Whaleback said there was a "desire to avoid conflicts between use of the pitches during performance times" and that the college was committed to ongoing communication.

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