Changes to Lancing school's sports hall plans approved

The hall was given the thumbs-up by the planning committee in December but New Horizons Academy Trust asked permission to make a number of changes.

The new plans, which include a 30cm reduction in the building’s height, extra ventilation grilles, and external wall lighting, were given the nod during a meeting last Monday (August 8).

Concerns were raised about possible light and noise pollution.

A report to the committee said the new plans predicted noise levels of 31dBA would reach nearby neighbours, while the approved scheme predicted 25dBA.

Calling for the application to be deferred or refused, Andy McGregor (Con, Widewater) said: “The approved application really gave no regard to the concern of the neighbours – and they all went away very dissatisfied with the outcome.

“And now the neighbours are being expected to accept changes which increases the amount of noise they will have to tolerate.”

Officers, though, questioned whether the increase in noise levels was enough to justify refusing the plans.

Another concern centred around works traffic parking outside people’s homes during construction.

It was agreed to adapt one of the conditions of approval, requiring a parking area to be added to the building site to stop this from happening.

A call from Paul Mansfield (Con, Peverel) to defer the application for more information to be gathered about noise and light pollution was voted down and the application approved.

To view the application, log on to planning.adur-worthing.gov.uk and search for DM/0930/22.