A ban on the use of referees’ whistles on a school’s new £700k all-weather sports pitch has been lifted – and locals are not happy.
Cornwallis Academy in Maidstone, Kent, was granted planning permission for its 3G pitch in 2023 on the basis that whistles would not be used during matches.
The policy had been suggested by the school’s agent SSL when it first applied for planning permission in 2022.
It was supposed to limit noise disturbance for neighbours and was subsequently made a condition of the planning approval granted in January 2023.
It was to apply only to after-school matches when the academy leases the pitch to clubs for private matches.
However, residents have since complained weekly about both the use of shrill whistles and adults “effing and blinding” throughout the week and at weekends.
But despite ongoing complaints that they are unable to enjoy peace and quiet in their gardens and homes, planners at Maidstone Borough Council (MBC) have now lifted the previous ban on whistles – adding to the growing ire of locals.
A decision was made at a meeting last week.
David Sanderson, who has lived on Salt’s Avenue – which backs onto the pitch – all his life and went to Cornwallis Academy as a child, said that though he’s disappointed by the decision, it was “to be expected”.
Salt’s Avenue in Maidstone – which backs onto the 3G pitch:
Mr Sanderson, 61, said the noise from the school’s pitch was “relentless”, and that both the school and MBC are not taking his and fellow residents’ complaints into account.
“I am very, very disappointed with the council,” the 61-year-old said. “But it was a totally expected outcome. The two words I would ask for from the council are: objectivity and impartiality.
“They had stated it was just for children, that the nearest houses were 140 metres away, that there would be a no-whistle policy, and that the maximum noise levels would be 49-51 decibels – which would be perfectly acceptable.
“It was on that basis that the planning went through.
“[In reality]the players in the evenings are all adults, the nearest houses are under 60 metres away and the no-whistle policy is unworkable.
“The noise levels are in the high 60s… They are not complying with any of the original criteria, but because the council have already granted planning. There’s nothing we can do.
“There’s a whole group of houses along here who are unable to use our gardens in peace, unable to have the windows open.
“We can hear the shouting in every room in the house whenever it’s being used. In my opinion, that is not acceptable.
“It was conditional on a no whistle policy, and now they have overturned that which, in their own words, will increase the noise even further.”
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Duncan Haynes, MBC’s environmental protection team leader, stated in a report for a similar planning application for a sports pitch at a different school in Maidstone that whistles were, in his experience, “tonal, impulsive and intrusive”.
Recommending that the pitch be refused at Maidstone Grammer School due to a lack of noise impact assessment, Mr Haynes wrote: “Past experience of assessing nuisance from sports pitches indicates that whistles are tonal, impulsive and intrusive.”
Mr Sanderson says he and other neighbours would like to see noise levels brought down to what he says were the council’s estimated levels during their planning application, as well as a reduction in the hours of use.
He added that the council had “garnered support” for their plans for the pitch from “neighbours” living as far away as London.
“We want some peace in the evenings and weekends,” he said. “We are reasonable people asking for a reasonable life.
“If they used it only as a school facility, that would be fine. But they have changed the goalposts – pardon the pun.
“The noise levels are relentless. When are we going to get a day off?”
During the MBC planning meeting held last week (on January 16), Cornwallis Academy’s head teacher, Joseph Sutton, said that although it had received 127 complaints about noise when the matches were being played, 101 had come from the same three complainants.
Lib Dem councillor Brian Clark told the meeting the saga had revealed “the level of failure in the planning process”.
A spokesperson for MBC said: “Maidstone Borough Council Planning Committee made the decision to remove the evening ‘no whistle’ planning condition during a meeting held [last week].
“Therefore the Academy is now able to use the new pitch during the permitted times and whistles can be used at all times the pitch is in use.
“The hours of use for the pitch are 8am to 9pm (reduced from 10pm) Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Others living in homes on Salt’s Avenue say they are unable to enjoy their gardens during summer and can even hear the “horrific” swearing of footballers with all their windows shut.
“In the summer, when you’re in the garden, you can hear a lot,” one resident named Peter, who has lived on the road for over 25 years, said.
“You get these deep, gruff voices of guys shouting. They do swear a bit as well, so you can hear that.
“The length of time they are out there during the evenings is too long. 10pm is far too late. Given the quietness of this road, it’s been a bit of a disturbance.
“You get these yobs, effing and blinding all of the time. And if they put any more floodlights down it will bother us, because we don’t get much light pollution.
“It’s not keeping me awake at night, but it is annoying.”
