St Michael’s College gets go-ahead for pitch floodlights over residents’ objections

Fee-paying St Michael’s College has got the green light from Dublin City Council for a new floodlighting system for its sports grounds despite concerns expressed by local residents about the impact on light bellied Brent geese and their own residential amenity.The council has required the private school, as part of the planning permission, to put in place mitigation measures for the protected bird, the light bellied Brent goose.The schools are located on a campus adjacent to Ailesbury Rd and Nutley Avenue in Dublin 4 catering for 1,000 students and 100 staff.Planning consultants for the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) told the council the introduction of pitch lighting would enable the school to continue to deliver excellence in education, sports and personal development for the school community. READ MOREAn objection on behalf of 29 householders on Nutley Avenue stated: “We feel the proposal represents an inappropriate, unjustified and poorly assessed form of development.”The objection, signed off by Declan Kennedy and Declan Corcoran on behalf of their neighbours, contends that the flood lighting system “would irreversibly impair residential amenity, undermine the character and setting of a protected structure, and fail to comply with the requirements of both the Dublin City Development Plan and EU environmental law”.The introduction of high-intensity floodlighting would also give rise to adverse effects on the light bellied Brent goose, it said. Responding to those concerns, the council limited use of the floodlights to no later than 9:30pm. This, it said, “would be appropriate in order to alleviate and reduce potential impacts on residential amenity of the area”.The council stalled the project earlier this year as a result of residents’ concerns and requested a number of reports, including one concerning use by light bellied Brent geese of the St Michael’s College pitch as a feeding area.In a survey carried out between February and April this year, field ecologist John Fox said light bellied Brent geese did graze there in significant numbers.The report from council planning officials noted that the council’s parks division was “satisfied that the development will not give rise to any adverse environmental impacts given that the pitches are to be utilised as existing”.