Lights go out on Bellerive hours bid

CRICKET Tasmania’s request to extend the operating hours of Blundstone Arena has been denied.

Clarence City Council aldermen unanimously rejected the proposal at a meeting last night, much to the relief of many Bellerive residents.

Clarence Mayor Doug Chipman said the council was concerned about the hours of operation, external lighting and noise emissions and felt Cricket Tasmania did not provide enough evidence to justify an amendment to the planning scheme.

Council officers recommended refusing the application on the grounds the proposal was “contrary to the provisions of the Clarence Interim Planning Scheme 2015”.

Finish times for any event including BBL and AFL at the arena is 10.30pm with light towers turned down to 25 per cent after 10.30pm and turned off before 11pm.

Cricket Tasmania’s application requested that any event should conclude by 11pm with the reduced lighting (25 per cent) to go through until midnight.

This was to allow for the crowd to disperse, rubbish to be collected to avoid blowing around and camera crews to pack gear from hazardous positions.

Bellerive woman Joanne Marsh said last night’s council decision did not go far enough.

“There’s nothing to celebrate because the oval has been problematic from the start and will continue to be an issue until its downgraded to a community facility,” she said.

“I’m going to continue to fight for improvements for the local community. There are still lots of issues around noise, lighting, rubbish, parking, traffic, pedestrian safety and all the issues from the arena.”

Alderman Richard James echoed those sentiments.

“A once a boutique development is now a large-scale business enterprise which is not in keeping with the area,” he said.

Cricket Tasmania could not be contacted last night.