A DENTON high school is looking to take Tameside Council to court after ending community use of its new sports pitch because of noise and light abatement notices.
St Thomas More RC College has had to cancel all weekday bookings for the £800,000 facility from February 27 and all weekend and Bank Holiday reservations from May 1.
Council chiefs stunned the Town Lane establishment with the notices, which do not affect school use during the day, following a ‘tiny number’ of complaints from people living nearby.
But headteacher Huw Brophy has essentially told the authority, ‘We’ll see you in court.’
He said: “The school is planning to appeal Tameside’s Council’s notices at Magistrates Court and we are exploring any measures that can lift the restrictions that have been forced on us.
“However, the waiting list for Magistrates Court Abatement Appeal Hearings is currently likely to be between six months and 18 months.
“This could potentially mean the school needs to wait for over a year to have the notices removed, if that is the ultimate decision of the court.
“Due to the threat of prosecution and the risk of an unlimited fine, the school has felt forced into cancelling future out of hours use by external organisations to prevent the risk of further legal action.
“We are deeply sorry to the community groups and young people that are affected by a course of action that is out of our hands at the moment.”
The complaint about Thomas More’s new pitch came ‘despite the school following all planning regulations and receiving planning approval from Tameside Council to build the pitch.’
As a result, the council told it floodlights on the all-weather surface had to be switched off from 5pm on February 27and it is ‘required to prohibit the occurrence or recurrence of the Noise Nuisance from 5pm on May 1.’
Mr Brophy told how the school installed an acoustic protection fence and an acoustic earth bund/barrier to deflect noise, plus how a sports lighting statement as part of the planning process saw them use the minimum required level of lighting and angle floodlighting directly on to the pitch.
Usage was also restricted until 9pm from Monday-Friday, 8pm on Saturday and 6pm on Sunday and Bank Holidays.
But that was not enough as Mr Brophy pointed out the damage the notices may cause.
He added: “Despite the school following all planning conditions required and taking best practicable means to reduce and mitigate any light or noise nuisance, Tameside Local Authority Environmental Services have seen fit to issue the abatement notices.
“The school understands that the abatement notices have been issued following investigation of a tiny number of complaints from property to the side of the school field. The school itself has received a direct complaint from one household.
“We are extremely disappointed that the notices have been served as the school has been in dialogue with Tameside Local Authority and the Environmental Services.
“We also note that there has been grass pitches at the same location for a number of years that have been available for community use.
“The planning and building of our superb new facility has taken many years at a cost of over £800,000, with funding provided by both the school and the Football Foundation.
“The aim of the project was to provide a state-of-the-art sporting facility for local community use and we have welcomed hundreds and perhaps thousands of children and adults through the gates to play football, the sport that they love.
“A key priority of the project was to increase the participation of women and girls in football and it has been really pleasing to see the high number of female teams that were able to use the facility since it has been built.
“I am very upset in particular that the progress in this area will be stopped by these notices.
“I know many of the volunteers and coaches who work with the young people of Denton personally, and how hard they work to provide engaging sporting opportunities for young people.
“l am saddened at the prospect that some groups may not be able to find alternative facilities to use in the middle of the playing season, which may lead to a reduction in engagement and participation, or perhaps some groups dissolving completely.
“Having followed all planning conditions and regulations, the school could not have foreseen that it would be issued with these abatement notices and has acted in good faith at all times.”
News of the notices has been met with shock by those associated with Denton’s football clubs.
Kirsty Clayton, of Denton Youth, said: “I know a lot of Denton Youth use this pitch. I am asking for every parent and coach to help fight to keep this pitch open.”
And when the application was being assessed, none of the statutory bodies said they were against, although nine objections were received.
However, in a planning report, Tameside Council’s own officers wrote: “The existing natural turf pitches on the school playing field site have little public access, no floodlighting and are subject to poor drainage
“As such, the existing pitches are not of a high quality that can provide significant opportunities for the health and wellbeing of the school’s students and the wider community.
“Alternatively, a new 3G pitch on the site would provide a number of benefits to sport and thus an improvement to health and wellbeing.
“The substantial spacing distance between the neighbouring properties and the 3G pitch/cage and other associated development would ensure amenity is not significantly harmed, in respect of loss of light and a reduced outlook.
“The council’s environmental health officer has reviewed the scheme and is satisfied the proposal would not cause significant light disturbance to residents.
“The proposed pitch is of an appropriate design and scale and is not considered to have a detrimental impact on neighbouring amenity, through appropriate lighting, noise mitigation measures and conditions.”
Less than two years after planning permission was granted, however, the school is fighting to overhaul the notices, which appear to contradict the findings of the planning officers.
A Tameside Council spokesperson said: “Following a complaint from a local resident in June 2025, officers from our Public Protection Team investigated the potential for statutory noise nuisance and light nuisance from the pitch. The complainant alleged that noise from both the ball striking the fencing surrounding the pitch and players/coaches shouting, combined with the light pollution from the lighting used to illuminate the pitch at night was having a severe impact on their lives.
“We’re extremely sympathetic to the school’s situation and have provided as much help and guidance as possible. However, under the legislation we enforce regarding statutory nuisance, we have no option but to serve notice – we have no discretion in the matter. We have not prohibited the use of the pitch and we have also made it clear to the school that we can extend the deadline for compliance with the notices should the school require additional time to implement solutions.
“We’re continuing to work with the school to try to resolve the issues and have also recommended that they seek professional advice from the company who installed the pitch. We can see the huge benefits of the sports pitch for pupils and the wider community and very much want to support the school to find a solution while also ensuring local residents’ lives are not adversely impacted. ”