Residents left a meeting with Northern Beaches Council convinced a proposal to install nine floodlights at Mike Pawley and Frank Gray Oval was a “done deal”, despite their fierce opposition.
The project, mainly funded by AFL NSW, is due to significant growth in sport (particularly AFL) and limited field availability on the Beaches (particularly winter evening training and competitions). However, residents have flagged concerns about late-night noise and bright lights streaming into their back gardens and homes until as late as 9:30pm on weeknights. The homes back directly onto the oval.
“Council seems to be pushing this through and not considering the impact on nearby residents,” Nick, a Curl Curl resident, told Manly Observer.
“Council isn’t required to submit a DA, so they don’t have to do things like a traffic study or an acoustic study. The surrounding roads and Freshwater High carpark are already congested. This is already a high-use area, even before they add on evening sport.”
Sporting groups, like the Manly Warringah Wolves (AFL), said demand for training space continued to increase across the Beaches and access to appropriate lighting was increasingly important to support the growth of community sport.
“The Manly Warringah Wolves and the Manly Bombers have more than 1,000 players, girls and boys, women and men, and both clubs continue to grow,” Jacqueline Wharton, President of Manly Warringah Wolves, explained.
“During winter, the large number of players training during the week and playing across both days of the weekend places significant pressure on Weldon Oval and creates a challenging environment for players, volunteers and the ground itself.”
Council assured Manly Observer they were committed to ensuring the ovals met the needs of the community, while balancing resident interests and environmental considerations.
“The requirement for upgraded lighting at Mike Pawley and Frank Gray Oval within John Fisher Park has been identified through ongoing consultation with sporting clubs, schools and local residents and is consistent with the John Fisher Park and Abbott Road Land Plan of Management,” a Council spokesperson said.
“Enhanced lighting is necessary for safe evening training and competition participation, particularly as our population continues to grow, differing sports requirements and demand for community sports increases.”
Council has received almost 900 submissions in relation to the proposal, and staff will provide their recommendations to Council on whether to proceed with the project.
The proposal in detail
While the project design is yet to be finalised, a maximum of nine new lighting poles, at a height of 28 to 32 metres, with four to five floodlights per pole, is proposed.
The poles will be positioned outside the boundaries of the current cricket fields and will be turned on and off remotely (for example, from a mobile phone) by the sports clubs booking the ovals or by Council.
Lights will be turned on for bookings, and the proposed hours of use are Monday to Thursday up to 9:30pm, and Friday and Saturday up to 8:30pm. Sporting teams will be required to finish their training by 9:15pm.
A new shared path between Freshwater High Campus carpark and the new amenities building at the ovals is also proposed. It will have lighting along the pathway and will be a warm 2,700K, incorporating light dimming to reduce brightness when pedestrian activity is reduced. The lights will remain on until 10pm to ensure players can safely exit the ovals.
This isn’t the first time a proposal for lights has been put forward. In 2020, Council submitted a development application for a similar project, but it was later withdrawn. According to residents, this was due to community backlash against the proposal; however, Council said it was withdrawn due to insufficient funding (the DA estimated the cost at $230,000).
This time round, AFL NSW is providing “significant financial contributions” to the project (the exact amount has not been disclosed). Council confirmed the AFL will not have exclusive use of the ovals, despite their monetary contribution. Instead, all sporting codes will be able to book the ovals through Council’s booking process and will be charged a fee for the use of sports field lighting, which will cover globe replacement, electricity charges and maintenance for the lighting.
The neighbours
Residents assured Manly Observer they aren’t anti-sport but rather want Council to thoroughly consider the impact this proposal would have on neighbouring properties in an area already dealing with congestion from sport activities during the day.
“There are ovals by the Aquatic Centre at Frenchs Forest which would be a better option,” Nick said.
“There’s a car park, no nearby residents, and it’s accessible by major roads.”
However, in a meeting between Council and residents, Council said those fields weren’t an option.
“They said those fields are designed and set up for baseball and can’t be interchangeable,” Frank, a Curl Curl resident, told us after the meeting.
“The meeting felt like a waste of our time. It felt like it was a done deal. AFL want the lights installed as soon as possible, and they’re paying for it, and because Council doesn’t have to do a DA, they don’t have to show whether they’ve assessed other options or taking into consideration the impact of loud whistles and shouting while kids in nearby homes are trying to do their homework or go to bed before 9:30pm.”
Residents also held a community meeting, which was attended by local councillors and the Member for Wakehurst, Michael Regan.
“Local residents are not anti-sport. They tell me they already live with significant cumulative impacts from nearby sporting fields, including noise, traffic, parking pressure and activity spill,” Your Northern Beaches Independent Cr Joeline Hackman said, who was in attendance at the community meeting.
“These residents are now being asked to accept bright new lighting infrastructure behind their homes, with the potential for even greater disruption to peace, privacy and neighbourhood amenity.
“The Review of Environmental Factors shows Council has done a technical lighting assessment, but it does not transparently demonstrate a full, neighbour-focused review of backyard and bedroom light spill.
“This does not amount to an independent peer review of residential impacts, only lightly addresses cumulative amenity impacts, and does not yet set out the kind of detailed, enforceable operational limits residents are asking for.”
Frank, who attended the community meeting, flagged that with the expansion of Freshwater High into a full high school.
“Council should wait to see what effect this additional use has on the ovals,” he explained.
The players
Cr Hackman said Council’s own long-term strategy confirmed that local sporting demand is under real pressure.
Grass sports fields have a sustainable capacity of 35 hours per week, yet 92 of 122 sports fields are over-used, with bookings sitting over 800 hours per week above sustainable capacity.
Ms Wharton, President of Manly Warringah Wolves, added that the Northern Beaches has significantly fewer sports grounds per capita compared with other similar-sized councils, and one of the key actions in Council’s Sports Ground Strategy is to make better use of existing sporting facilities.
“Lighting Mike Pawley Oval and Frank Gray Oval will allow these grounds to be used for training during the week throughout winter, helping support not only AFL but a range of other community sports across the region,” she said.
“We also understand that the summer users of Weldon, Warringah cricket, are also in favour of the lights, particularly given that a lighter load on Weldon will help ensure its surface viability.”
What she means is, by spreading the footprint of AFL and other winter sports across several ovals, the natural grass will be less damaged and more likely to recover for summer sports like cricket. Last year, Manly Observer covered Council’s push to move summer soccer to synthetic turf over concerns with field maintenance for other sports (you can read that here).
“We understand that some residents have concerns about the proposed lighting, and we respect the Council’s role in ensuring that community facilities work well for both local residents and the broader community,” Ms Wharton added.
“We strongly believe that improvements to community sporting facilities that support participation, safety and accessibility benefit the entire community.”
