Brilliant news for Ventnor, as awards are presented to The Ventnor Tennis Club and Rew Valley Sports Centre.
Last Saturday saw the Annual General Meeting of the Campaign To Protect Rural England (CPRE) (report from the chairman to follow shortly), where the awards were presented.
According to the notes from the CPRE, the award is named in honour of one of their late Trustees, Julia Plant. The award also follows on the Dark Skies campaign initiated about three years ago by national CPRE and the British Astronomical Association, and is an attempt on the part of the local branch to draw attention to one of the environmental attributes of the Island which is often overlooked, namely the beauty of its night skies.
The first award went to the Ventnor Tennis Club. It sits on the prominent town junction of St Boniface Road, Mitchell Avenue and Spring Hill, and was awarded for the very fine, even, full cut-off floodlighting of its playing courts area, which is a model of the kind of lighting which complies fully with planning policies on lighting by illuminating exactly the area required without upwards or sideways spillage.
The second award in Ventnor went to the Rew Valley Sports Centre which is attached to Ventnor Middle School. Another successful example of one of the IW Council’s installations on the playing area, which, despite a nearby road and residences, gives excellent localised illumination without spillage.
The Ventnor Tennis Club was also judged to be the overall winner and was also awarded a piece of engraved glassware (for permanent retention) made by Isle of Wight Glass at St Lawrence. The Tennis Club Secretary Jonathan Greenway accepted the award from Peter Grimaldi.
Well done to both the Tennis Club and Rew Valley Sports Centre for considering the impact of their lighting and winning the awards for Ventnor.
