PEOPLE living close to a football ground fear their privacy will be invaded by television cameras.
Residents of Bastion Gardens, which runs alongside Prestatyn Town FC’s ground, are worried the cameras fixed to the top of the club’s stand have views into their bedroom windows, despite previously reaching an agreement with the club to ensure their privacy.
A resident of the street, who did not to be named, said a number of people had voiced their concerns after the club’s first home match of the new season saw a cameraman using the roof to record the match, rather than the designated gantry.
“They’ve placed a cameraman on top of the roof rather than inside the gantry. The gantry there now meets the criteria for Welsh League and respects the rights of residents, so why put a man with a camera on the roof of the gantry when there is an acceptable enclosed area already there for TV and Police presence?
“The gantry is set in front of vulnerable and severely disabled residents who are finding it difficult to have a voice. The football club to date have not spoken to the residents of Bastion Gardens. The whole thing infringes on our privacy and dignity.”
Residents clashed with the club over a scaffold gantry used in 2008, with planning enforcement officers brought in to find a solution between the two parties, but the residents still feel that these issues are not being met.
“We are still waiting for the club to comply with the conditions of this application and we don’t know when they intend to do so,” said the spokesperson.
The club has also put in a planning application to put a permanent safety rail around the top of the current gantry, with a spokeswoman for Denbighshire County Council indicating that seven objections had been lodged.
Prestatyn Town Football Club declined to comment on the matter.