Planners back a floodlit 3G pitch at The Campion School, Hornchurch, despite 224 objections and a 590-name petition. Councillors decide on 29 October.

Havering’s planning officers are recommending approval for a floodlit artificial football pitch at The Campion School in Hornchurch. That is despite 224 formal objections and a petition signed by 590 residents.

Councillors on the planning committee will decide the application, reference P0215.26, on Thursday 29 October at 7pm at Havering Town Hall. It goes to committee because a ward councillor called it in.

The officers’ report also records 156 letters of support. Several came from youth football clubs.

What the school wants to build

The pitch would go on the grass playing fields on the western side of the school site, off Wingletye Lane. An existing floodlit hockey pitch sits directly to the east. The plans include:

  • a 3G synthetic turf pitch of about 91m by 55m
  • a 4.5m weld-mesh fence around it, with noise-damping fixings
  • six 15m floodlight columns with 12 LED lights, giving 200 lux, dimmable to 120 lux
  • 29 new parking spaces, with electric vehicle charging, motorcycle bays and cycle parking
  • lit footpaths on 6m columns
  • a storage container for equipment
  • moving the discus practice cage to another field

The school would use it in lessons, and clubs would hire it outside school hours.

The hours on the table

The school first asked to run the pitch from 08:00 to 22:00. It has since agreed to match the hours already set for its existing floodlit pitch. If councillors approve it, a condition would limit the pitch and its floodlights to:

Day Hours
Monday to Friday 09:00 to 21:30
Saturday 09:00 to 18:00
Sunday and bank holidays 09:00 to 18:00

Why neighbours object

The site borders homes on Platford Green, Basi Close, Peacock Close and Macdonald Avenue. The report puts the nearest garden boundaries on Platford Green about 24 metres from the edge of the pitch, and the houses themselves about 40 metres away.

The objections summarised in the report include:

  • noise from players, whistles, spectators, balls hitting the fence and car doors, into the evening and at weekends
  • glare and light spill into bedrooms and gardens from the 15m floodlights and the car park lights
  • more traffic on Wingletye Lane and overspill parking on Platford Green and Macdonald Avenue
  • harm to wildlife at the Platford Green pond, including bats
  • rubber crumb and microplastics washing into gardens, drains and the pond
  • surface water flooding in gardens that already flood, on London Clay
  • school fields turning into “a commercial sports enterprise operating 7 days a week”

The petition was signed by residents of Platford Green, Macdonald Avenue and Basi Close, and across Emerson Park and Squirrels Heath wards.

Councillor David Johnson called the application in to committee. His reasons were light pollution, noise from evening use between 7pm and 10pm, extra car movements in the evenings, and the effect on nearby residents, including children.

Why officers back it

Officers say the “substantial sporting, educational, and health benefits” outweigh the local impacts, which they say conditions can control.

They point to Havering’s 2025 Playing Pitch Strategy and the Local Football Facility Plan. Both find a shortage of full-size 3G pitches across the borough, and name Campion as a priority site in the east of Havering. Sport England, the Football Foundation and the Rugby Football Union support it.

Sport England, the council’s highways team, its noise officers, Historic England and its landscape and ecology advisers raised no objection, subject to conditions.

Supporters’ letters describe a shortage of all-weather pitches and winter matches being called off. One club, Elite Colts FC, says it runs 36 teams for more than 450 children, with about 70 volunteers, and four girls’ teams it wants to grow.

The conditions proposed

If approved, the permission would come with 17 conditions. The main ones would require:

  • a noise management plan before the pitch opens, covering spectators, whistles, parking supervision and a complaints procedure
  • a parking management plan before any community use, to stop overspill into nearby roads
  • a community use agreement with Sport England, setting prices and booking rules
  • floodlights built exactly to the approved lighting design, and off outside the permitted hours
  • drainage built to the approved strategy, with silt and filter traps to stop rubber infill reaching drains or soil
  • a construction plan covering lorry routes, dust and noise
  • protection for great crested newts and bats during building, and a 10% gain in biodiversity

What it means for you

  • You can watch the meeting. It is at Havering Town Hall, Main Road, Romford, at 7pm on Thursday 29 October, and the council webcasts its committees.
  • Speaking slots have closed. The agenda asked anyone who wanted to speak to register by phone before Tuesday 27 October.
  • You can still contact your ward councillors before Thursday. The school is in Emerson Park ward.
  • The full report and plans are on the meeting page.

We will report the decision after the meeting. Other planning news from across the borough is on our Romford planning news page.

Sources