Neighbours unhappy at care home lights plan

A CARE home in Whitchurch is seeking planning permission for new external lighting.

Urban Village Group already has permission to convert Cedar Lodge, formerly known as Eastfield House, into a 45-bedroom care home.

Now it has asked South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority for a planning condition to be changed to allow for 47 external lights.

Neighbours have written to the council expressing their concerns.

William Lewis calls the proposed ornamental lighting “unfriendly and ecologically unsound”.

He says: “I had hoped that the developer would confine the need for night-time illumination to the very minimum and not create unnecessary light pollution for adjacent properties.

“Sadly, I see that the developer seems hell-bent on maximising discordant and divisive factors to the detriment of the neighbours. It appears to be taking no heed at all of the nuisance that this will create for adjacent and more distant residents who have chosen to live in a semi-rural area.”

Neil and Julie Huntington, who live next door, ask for any lighting which would affect them to be kept to a minimum.

They say: “It seems there is a front circuit that includes side lighting a short distance from our house and a rear circuit. Could the side lighting be linked to the rear circuit?

“Please consider that Eastfield House is located in a conservation area and in a small rural village with minimal street lighting. The general level of lighting is quite low.”

The application proposes 12 bollard units in the back garden and eight inset brick wall lights around pedestrian areas, which are said to minimise upward light spill.

The bollards would be 40cm high and provide directional light towards paths.

All lighting at the rear would be controlled with daylight sensors and timed controls to prevent use between 9pm and 8am.

All the lights in the front garden would be controlled with dusk to dawn sensors, so would be dimmed to 50 to 70 per cent brightness between 10.30pm and 7am.

There would be seven non-maintained emergency exit bulkhead lights across the site and two wall-mounted lights serving the cycle and bin store controlled by a movement sensor. The council is due to make a decision by March 26.

Planning permission for an extension to the building was initially refused by the council in September 2010 due to overdevelopment, the impact on the amenity of neighbouring properties and harm to trees.

An appeal was dismissed in August 2011 but the planning inspector noted that the design was acceptable and agreed that trees on the site would not be harmed.

A fresh planning application was refused by the planning committee in August 2012 due to concerns about privacy.

Permission was granted on appeal in 2013 and construction began last year.