PLANS for a floodlit multi-use games area in a nature reserve are worrying an officer of the group set up to care for the flora and fauna haven. He is concerned over the potential impact on wildlife. North Hertfordshire District Council has applied to ins

PLANS for a floodlit multi-use games area in a nature reserve are worrying an officer of the group set up to care for the flora and fauna haven.

He is concerned over the potential impact on wildlife.

North Hertfordshire District Council has applied to install four eight metre high floodlights on the tennis courts at Norton Common, Letchworth GC.

The proposals are part of a planned refurbishment of the courts, which would turn them into a multi-use games area with improved facilities.

A spokesman for the district council said that the council is intending to go to an external organisation for matched funding and this organisation will require floodlights to be erected as part of the deal.

Floodlights will disturb wildlife - claimBut Graham Frost, 55, of Icknield Way is anxious about the plans as Norton Common has only recently been named a nature reserve.

He said: "I don't think that's a very good use for that particular location.

"It is going to pollute the area with light when it's a nature reserve. I don't think it's appropriate."

Mr Frost, who is treasurer of the Friends of Norton Common, a group set up this year to help look after the common, said that muntjac deer are among the animals to be found on the common.

He also expressed concerns about what such a development would mean for the future of the area.

"If they're going to make it a multi-use gaming area where's it going to stop?

"What else are they going to bring in as well?" he said.

A consultation on the floodlights has begun and according to the council website, two objections have been received from nearby residents.

No date has been set yet for the council's Letchworth area committee to discuss the plans but it is hoped a decision will be reached by December.