A Winchester tennis club wants to add floodlights to two more courts and hopes they won’t affect bats.

Applicant Roland Riem, of Kings Gate Tennis Club, in Domum Road, Wharf Hill, said the six-court club is next to the river Itchen on the bats’ flight path. Because of that, the club commissioned a bat report to find out how the bats might be affected by the lighting.

The club has applied to Winchester City Council for planning permission to add nine column floodlights to two courts. They will be 6.7 metres high and will hold two LED floodlights that are 71cm, by 63cm, by 57cm.

The lights will only be used seven months of the year to protect the bats. The application form said the area of the proposed nine lighting columns is less than 25 square metres.

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The 533-member tennis club is open to paying members and includes a free-play booking system, private coaching sessions, and group mix-ins.

The club’s planning statement said: “The lighting columns have been specially selected as they are designed for difficult lighting situations such as areas recognised as dark skies where light spillage has to be minimised.”

It added to mitigate against the impact of lighting on protected bat species, the lighting would only be used between October and April inclusive.

“This is outside the primary active season for bats when maternity roosts will not be present,” the statement said.

Annika Binet and Thomas Wright of Animal Ecology and Wildlife Consultants Ltd (AEWC Ltd) were commissioned by Bell Cornwell, planning consultants on behalf of King Gate Tennis Club, to carry out a static bat survey between July 17 and September 12 last year.

The survey identified eight species of bat and said: “[Because] there is a key habitat feature to the west of the site, no lighting should be installed on the western courts adjacent to this tree line as it is considered that this could have significant negative implications on this habitat corridor.”

Cheshire-based Sports-lighting UK has drawn up plans that show how the LED TennisPro lights will light up the area on courts three and four, north of the existing lights, and how the guards around the lights protect from upward light pollution. 

There are already two tennis courts, courts one and two, with floodlights approved in 2005 that are used between 1pm and 10pm each day and every month.

The club is open every day 8am until 10pm including bank holidays and employs two full-time tennis coaches and one part-time coach. 

The club has a clubhouse, six tennis courts and 20 car parking spaces for members and visitors.

Winchester City Council planners have an internal target date of July 3 to consider application ref 23/01040/FUL