The proposal includes the installation of six light poles to achieve a maximum brightness of 200 lux in the centre of the fields. The poles would be 30m high and fabricated from steel. The recommended lighting system will utilise metal halide Champion luminaires of 2kW MHNLA operating on 415 volt reactor/ignitor control gear. The luminaire has a glare shield, wide tilt and a rear visor to prevent unwanted light spill.

FFNT needs more room to cater for the growth in local football and to continue to provide the best facilities possible in the best conditions for the thousands of children and adults and their families who enjoy soccer in Darwin. There are limited opportunities for new open space areas to be created and as a result we need to investigate opportunities to better utilise our current fields. For FFNT's largest Club, Mindil Aces Football Club, Bagot oval is their home  ground. However, at the moment Mindil Aces have to hire school ovals to accommodate all their juniors while the seniors have to train elsewhere as well because of the lack of lighting. Lights will provide the opportunity for all teams to train at Bagot Oval and enable further growth of local sport. The other reason for lights at Bagot Oval is that Darwin’s climate presents unique challenges to our sports players. There is a responsibility to ensure the health and wellbeing of players, officials, staff, volunteers and spectators. FFNT has a heat policy to assist in preventing injury through heat related effects. They recognise that the risk of an elevated body temperature from high intensity sport in a hot environment is significant, and can lead to heat illness presented as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Playing and training under lights reduces the risks of heat related illness and injury and would be a key heat management principle in FFNT’s duty of care. 

As the main user of the oval MIndil Aces Football Club have indicated the following times the lights would be used: 

DAY	TIME	LUX LEVEL
Monday	6 – 9pm	100LUX (training)
Tuesday	6 – 10pm	100LUX (training)
Wednesday	6 – 10pm	100LUX (training)
Thursday	6 – 10pm	100LUX (training)
Friday	6 – 10pm	200LUX (Junior soccer matches)
Saturday	Not in use
Sunday	5.45pm – 6.45pm	200 LUX (Soccer matches)

The times indicated by Mindil Aces Football Club will become part of the Seasonal Oval Allocations Agreement with the sports club. All clubs must adhere to the Agreement to be able to use Council facilities. FFNT plan to install a control system at the existing canteen site so the lights can be switched to the required lux level, this will also house the automated timer which will turn lights off at the agreed curfew times.

The lighting design will carefully consider impacts on surrounding residential areas. As outlined above the proposed light fittings include a glare shield and rear visor to prevent unwanted light spill and will comply with Australian Standards AS4282 – Control of the Obtrusive Effects of Outdoor Lighting. 

Malak Oval (Malak Crescent, Malak) has 100 lux lighting utilising metal halide luminaires, and the poles are 28m high.  

Northern Territory Government has committed $3.5M for City of Darwin to light sports ovals in 2017/18 and 2018/19 under the Urban and Regional Oval Lights Program. These funds will pay for the lights at Bagot Oval should the project proceed.

A user pays control system would be installed near the clubhouse. This system will allow the users to switch the lights to the required lux level. 

City of Darwin will own the lights and will pay the ongoing maintenance costs.

Council developed the Sports Field Plan 2016-2026 to guide the future use, development and management of sporting fields and ovals. Sports field lighting was identified as a key infrastructure item to play an increasingly important role in accommodating additional uses, managing allocations and maximising participation opportunities. The Sports Field Plan categorises Council’s ovals into Regional, District and Local level ovals.  The category based management system defines facility maintenance, service levels and infrastructure development. Council’s only Regional level oval is Gardens Oval 1; this facility has been built and maintained at a premier standard for competition and training. A lighting proposal for this oval is currently being developed. In order to maximise the capital investment required to light sporting fields, there is a strong case to prioritise District level fields due to their higher use, the variety of sports they accommodate and their ability to host both training and competition use.  When considering other District venues, Malak Oval already has lighting installed, and Kahlin Oval is used exclusively for cricket predominately in the Dry Season. Therefore, Bagot and Nightcliff ovals are preferential for consideration given both their geographic distribution and variety of use.

The main user of Bagot Oval is Mindil Aces Football (soccer) club. 

Mindil Aces Football Club is a family oriented club providing a welcoming environment for all to enjoy playing football in Darwin. The club is one of the largest single code sporting clubs in Darwin with near 40 teams and 550 players. Mindil fields teams in each junior age group (Under 6 to Under 18) and also has teams in the senior mens and womens competitions. The Club is run by volunteers and with near 550 members and over 1500 people from the Darwin community using the facility each weekend those volunteers are kept busy. 

It is expected to be the same amount of traffic and parking that currently uses the facility, but it is the time of use that will change. 

There is not expected to be a lot of change to the area on nights when training is on. There will be more people in the area when night games are on. City of Darwin Seasonal Oval Allocations Agreement provides conditions of use which clubs must adhere to. It has the following key points: 

The term lux is the typical measurement of illuminance used in various Australian Standards and Building Codes to determine the light levels for different areas and uses. As a comparison, office lighting is usually between 350 to 400lux.  

As a Council-owned facility, City of Darwin is responsible for deciding whether to approve the proposal and proceed with a development application. 

A report will be presented to Council following the consultation which will outline the feedback received, and this will be made publicly available. The consultation outcomes will assist Council in making a decision on whether to approve the proposal to light Bagot Oval.

Following community consultation Council provided in principle support for the lighting proposal to enable AFL NT and NT Cricket to develop detailed design, documentation and cost estimates. Council endorsed that the key concerns of the community as identified in the Council Report be taken into consideration in the planning and design process. A further report will be presented to Council to provide the detailed design, documentation and cost.