Plans for new floodlights at Cross in Hand rugby club training area

Floodlights at a Cross in Hand rugby club training area could be replaced and additional lights installed.

The existing floodlights, on the training area on the Hardy Roberts playing fields, feature standard tungsten filament lamps and are described as “extremely inefficient” in terms of energy use and also light spread.

On the other hand plans before Wealden Council say new state-of-the-art fittings would provide a highly efficient installation which could be properly controlled and regulated.

They would provide concentrated levels of light only on the training surface area with minimal spillage to other adjacent locations.

A design and access statement says: “Therefore, whilst more lighting will be provided over a larger area the impact of this will actually be much improved given the ability to control the areas to be illuminated more effectively.”

The training ground is used for training and drills by Heathfield and Waldron Rugby Football Club, long-term tenants of the playing fields which are owned and controlled by the Hardy Roberts Playing Fields Association.

The rugby club has about 360 active players and a coaching staff of more than 30 and there is high demand for the use of the training facilities on weekday evenings, according to the statement.

At the moment there are four fixed columns of lights and two semi-permanent telescopic floodlight gantries. The proposal is to replace them with four new lighting columns and provide an additional row of four floodlights along the southern fringe of the training area with the aim of spreading light evenly across the entire training surface.