Frequently Asked Questions!

Who is the Wychwoods Tennis Club (WTC)?

  • A members only club, now of around 534 people, well over 60% of whom don’t even live in any of the Wychwood villages, let alone in Shipton under Wychwood!
  • The WTC are guests in our village. They own no land and lease the ground the courts are on from from the New Beaconsfield Hall. They have no clubhouse or toilet facilities.
  • They have already spent well over £20,000 on planning applications and say the installation will cost around £40,000 more.
  • In a recent questionnaire, fewer than a quarter of the total membership said they wanted floodlights. Some members are actively against them.
  • According to their website, only members can book courts. Non-members can only play as a guest, up to a max. of 3x per year.

GIVEN TODAY'S AWARENESS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND BIODIVERSITY LOSS, FLOODLIGHTING AT THIS LOCATION IS 

THE VERY OPPOSITE OF PROGRESS

Where is Wychwoods Tennis Club?

  • Next to the New Beaconsfield Hall and near the Church, clearly visible from the road into Shipton from Chipping Norton.
  • As you can see from the photo below, the courts are close to open countryside and being in the valley bottom, highly visible from miles around. Wherever you can see the church spire from, you will be able to see the floodlit courts.
  • Interestingly the Application refers to the homes in the foreground as 'semi-urban'!
  • The club is constrained by its location within a Conservation Area and an AONB and as such, has reached the end of its development potential in Shipton-under -Wychwood.

What’s the most recent application for?

 

  • Floodlighting would be on the 2 courts nearest the playground. Note: at Kingston Bagpuize Tennis Club, the lightspill is sufficient to play on the non-illuminated court and it is even bookable!)
  • Ten LED floodlights mounted on top of nine 6m high poles. Note: the court fence is 2.75m high. 
  • The light temperature has been reduced to 3000 degrees Kelvin to mitigate for bat activity. Note: ILP Guidelines for Bats stipulate below 2700K.
  • Proposed months of use are October - 15th May.
  • Proposed hours of use are from 9am - 9pm on weekdays and 9am - 7pm Saturdays and Sundays.

 

WE NEED TO TREAD MORE LIGHTLY ON THE PLANET. THE BIODIVERSITY CRISIS IS REAL AND URGENT

 

When would the floodlighting be used?

  • Floodlights could be switched on any time from October to mid May. 
  • They could be in use for up to 6 hours a day in winter.
  • The current application is for use from 9.00am - 9pm on weekdays, 9am - 7pm on Saturdays and Sundays.. Note: extensions could be made once planning permission is granted.
  • The proposed start time is currently 9am but could potentially be changed if Permission is granted. This means birds and other animals would lose their dawn as well as their dusk. 

 

FLOODLIGHTING TURNS NIGHT INTO DAY, ELIMINATING DUSK AND DAWN. THIS IS MESSING WITH NATURE.

 

Is it really needed?

No it isn't!

  • There are many other floodlit or indoor tennis courts within a 10 mile radius of Shipton under Wychwood at Chippy, Charlbury, Witney, Moreton in Marsh, Bourton on the Water and Hook Norton (11 miles). Many of these are in places where members already drive from.
  • The estimated cost of installing the floodlighting is £60,000+. Surely it would be more cost effective and better for the environment in terms of light pollution and wasted energy to use existing facilities nearby? 
  • There are only a few months of the year when it is too dark for junior coaching directly after school. Adult members who wish to play in the evenings have many other choices.
  • Even within the WTC, in a recent questionnaire, fewer than a quarter of the total membership said they would like floodlighting. Some members, even those living outside the village, are actively against it.
  • Local residents report that the tennis courts are under-utilised even at weekends. An informal analysis of court bookings between January and March 2020 (pre-lockdown) suggested an average of over 50% availability on weekdays and over 35% at weekends. When not blockbooked for junior coaching, the weekend average appeared to rise to over 55%.

 

WE'VE NEVER HAD A BETTER CHANCE TO MAKE A GREENER WORLD. COVID-19 HAS DELIVERED UNUSUAL ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS: CLEANER AIR, LOWER CARBON EMISSIONS, A RESPITE FOR WILDLIFE. NOW THE BIG QUESTION IS WHETHER WE CAN CAPITALISE ON THIS MOMENT.

 

Who could it benefit? 

The WTC application suggests: 

  • The Community? 
    • The WTC website states: ‘Only Wychwoods Tennis Club members are able to book a court' so how can floodlighting possibly benefit the community? The community is those who live nearby, whose lives will be blighted every night for 7.5 months of the year by light pollution.
  • WTC Junior coaching? 
    • There are only about 3 months of the year when it’s too dark for children to play directly after school. It would be much more cost effective and better for the environment to use local courts where floodlighting already exists for the winter months (eg Chipping Norton, Charlbury), Juniors' cricket and football coaching also take place outside the village during winter - why should tennis be any different?
  • WTC Adult members? 
    • In a 2021 WTC members' questionnaire, fewer than a quarter of members responded and of those, 88 members said they would like floodlights. Interestingly only 10% of the respondents were the juniors who the floodlights are supposed to benefit. The remaining 300 approx. members are mainly social players, many of whom would be unlikely to use the floodlights, but who may support the application to support the club, without really considering the cost to the environment, the village and the neighbours. There are also members who actively oppose the floodlighting. 
  • Health? 
    • The WTC already provides an excellent tennis venue and coaching during daylight hours and, let’s be realistic, an extra few hours after dark is not going to have a massive impact on health or child obesity! The potential take-up would be from existing members who are already purportedly fit and healthy.
    • In fact recent studies have shown LED lighting has a negative impact on health.
      • Risk of eye damage, particularly in children. LED lighting can damage the eye’s retina and disturb natural sleep rhythms.
      • People living in areas with high levels of artificial light at night may face a higher risk of developing thyroid cancer 
      • Increased risk of bowel cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer. 
  • WTC itself - 
    • Floodlighting will undoubtedly benefit the Club in terms of prestige and increased revenue. These are commercial issues and not planning considerations.

 

WE NEED TO COMPLETELY REASSESS OUR PRIORITIES, NOT IN A SELFISH WAY FOR US NOW, BUT THINKING AHEAD FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS 

What could the floodlighting look like? 

There are several elements of LIGHT POLLUTION: glare and halo effect from the fittings themselves, sky glow, reflection from the highly illuminated court surface and light trespass or spill beyond the area of the courts. Sky glow is exacerbated by damp atmospheric conditions.

This photo is of Roade Tennis Club near Northampton which uses the same floodlights as proposed in this application. It is shown on their website.

FLOODLIGHTING IS CREEPING URBANISATION 

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