The image that proves NIMBYs lights argument doesn’t stack up

IT has been 20 years in the making and a single image of the lit up Gardens Oval has proved the NIMBYs argument which prevented lights going up was simply wrong

FOR 20 years the NIMBY’s living around three suburban football grounds held the power in a battle to install lights over the playing the fields.

The NIMBY’s claimed the lights would have an impact on their lifestyle. The high-powered towers would beam light directly into their living rooms and interrupt their peaceful evenings.

It was an argument which has held back the development of these grounds for nearly two decades and kept thousands of keen footy players and footballers running around under the hot sun unnecessarily.

But a single drone image taken by Darwin City Council when the lights were tested for the first time proved the long-held argument was wrong. Plain wrong.

On a typically humid Darwin build up night, the lights shone down on the home of the Waratahs NTFL footy club in what proved to be a truly glorious sight.

Gardens Oval was lit up brightly, and stood out like a beacon in the darkness which surrounded it.

No light shone into the car park. No lights came even close to shining on any of the neighbouring unit blocks or on Gardens Rd.

The trees which surround the field cut a silhouette figure on the back drop of the playing surface. The trees were dark, there was no light shining on them.

The image begs the question why were the players and members of Tahs, Nightcliff Tigers and Mindil Aces football clubs have been held at the mercy of the NIMBYS by an argument which just does not stack up?

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Light towers have been erected at the Aces home ground, Bagot Park and Nightcliff Oval. Both clubs are eagerly awaiting the switch to be turned on.

Council conducted extensive consultation with the NIMBY’s, gathering the views and concerns on how the lights would impact their lives. Some would say they did too much consultation.

The image has ended years of debate over the light’s impact.

While the clubs waited patiently and kept chipping away year after year to get the infrastructure available to the majority of footy clubs in the country, the NIMBY’s voices remained strong.

Why did Council wait so long to push through the project when there are countless examples interstate that lights don’t impact the surrounding homes?

Why were the voices of a few listened too for so long when so many players, including myself, were left sunburnt and dehydrated week in week out after yet another day game?

Finally Darwin has caught up with the rest of Australia by providing footballers a chance to play and train out of the searing heat of the Northern Territory sun.

Having moved from Brisbane to Darwin five years ago I found it simply staggering that the hottest city in the country expected weekend warriors and thousands of juniors to primarily train and play in the sweltering Top End heat.

Project officer Tony Yiannakos is excited to see the first light towers installed at Bagot Oval. Picture Katrina Bridgeford.

I took for granted that nearly every soccer club I played for and against in Brisbane and north Queensland had lights.

Pre-season day games were abandoned in February and March in Brisbane because it was too hot. Can you believe that?

It is extremely difficult for anyone who has a job and wants play footy to make a training session that starts at 5.15pm and ends at sun down because that’s the only time it can be held. For parents who have kids playing, the start time for training is even earlier.

Now that the lights are up, the next phase is not only to look at what other grounds around Darwin and Palmerston should have lights, but expanding the hours they can be used during the week for matches.

Do we really want our generation of children exposed to the hottest parts of the day and the harmful UV rays?

Why for instance, could the lower grades of the NTFL and FFNT competitions not be played under lights midweek?

We have the infrastructure – belatedly – now it must be used at every opportunity so players of all standards can have access to the lights.