A NEW-build school has been forced to ban the out-of-hours use of its outdoor sports pitch in fear of being prosecuted for breaching a Noise Abatement Order.

The notice was issued by Bradford Council to Appleton Academy in Wyke following “complaints from local residents”.

But it has left some junior sports clubs without a place for training after the school, which only opened in 2012, said it now had to restrict use of the pitch despite paying for specialists to try to solve the problem.

David Ryan, secretary of Wyke Wanderers Football Club which had about 200 junior players training at the school, said a limited number of the younger children were able to use its indoor facilities, but said the majority were now forced to travel to places such as Thornton, Buttershaw and Odsal to train.

The club’s open age teams have had to move as well.

“Players leaving has been mooted by some,” said Mr Ryan. “It is going to be difficult.

“It has put us back a number of years. We have been split up around the south Bradford area, when we thought we had landed a good facility.”

Mr Ryan said he knew that one noise test had revealed a level of 85 decibels - above the “50 to 55” decibels it should be.

A spokesman for Bradford College Education Trust (BCET), which runs the academy, said: “Appleton Academy has taken a range of actions to reduce the noise created during the use of the 3G pitch.

“The users of the pitch have been aware of the ongoing noise issues regarding the use of the 3G pitch and have co-operated with the Academy in trying to reduce the noise.

“However, Appleton Academy does not believe that it can, at this time, guarantee that it can meet the requirements of the Noise Abatement Notice during a forthcoming Environmental Health Department monitoring period and so avoid potential prosecution.

“It is, therefore, with great regret that BCET has had to take the decision to suspend use of the 3G pitch for weekday out of hours use.

“BCET representatives are in ongoing discussions with the community users of the 3G pitch, including Wyke Wanderers, to establish if there are any further reasonable steps that Appleton Academy can take to meet the requirements of the Noise Abatement Notice and so reinstate the use of the pitch.

“During the design and planning stages, which were led by the Council and its contractors, the Trust and academy had not been made aware of the potential for any noise issues when using the 3G pitch.

“The academy has, as a result, had to fund all the actions required in respect of the Noise Abatement Notice.

“The academy has always sought to work closely with its local community and it continues to provide a wide range of other sporting facilities for community use.”

Work to reduce the noise includes replacing all nuts and bolts in the fencing with special low-noise varieties and installing padding on signs and other parts of the fence.

The spokesman added: “The advice the academy has received states that the only ways of being absolutely sure of meeting the Noise Abatement Notice requirements are to either fully enclose the 3G pitch in a building or to re-locate it to a different part of the site.

“Neither is practical but other options continue to be explored.”

A Council spokesman said: “Following complaints from local residents about noise arising from out of hours use of the football pitches at Appleton Academy, a full investigation was carried out.

“This established that the noise amounted to a statutory nuisance and in November 2014 an abatement notice was served on Bradford College Education Trust, which runs the academy requiring abatement of the noise nuisance.

“Complaints continue to be received about the noise.

“An investigation into the level of the noise and whether there is a breach of the abatement notice is currently being undertaken.”

MORE TOP STORIES