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Imagine this. Canberra United surge into the W-League grand final and earn hosting rights at McKellar Park after turning the venue into a fortress. The league's broadcasters want the game played under lights to capitalise on a prime time television audience. They want some of the nation's best players going head to head with a twilight kick-off in the middle of February. But two complaints from nearby residents about the lights at McKellar Park being too bright are enough to foil the plans of the W-League and its broadcasters. It sounds absurd, because it is. But it is a legitimate possibility should that situation eventuate. For in the Belconnen district sits a purpose-built soccer venue with six light towers - but less than a handful of complaints mean the owners won't switch them on. McKellar Park is flanked by paddocks and there is not one home adjacent to the venue. The nearest house is 100 metres away. Let's not forget this. Nobody is asking to have these lights on at midnight. In this case, not even much later than 7pm. But two complaints to the Environmental Protection Agency have left the Belconnen Soccer Club feeling as though they have little alternative. There is no ban on night games or night training sessions at McKellar Park. But for the licenced club, the equation is simple: they either turn off the lights, or turn away the locals they are trying to draw into their club. It makes the McKellar Park light towers pretty expensive space-fillers - because they are certainly not being used what they are designed for. The ACT government did not return a request for comment but has previously stated on the record the EPA has received two complaints in regards to light pollution coming from the McKellar Park during evening training sessions and games. The EPA began working with the Belconnen Soccer Club earlier this year in a bid to find options to reduce the effects of the lighting on nearby homes. Those dwellings have inadvertently kicked off a war of the words between the Belconnen United Blue Devils and Gungahlin United after their Capital Football Premier League clash was brought to an early end on Saturday. Gungahlin were two goals up after 18 minutes before Belconnen's Christian Pratezina broke his leg and caused play to stop. Pratezina was tended to by officials from both clubs during a near-half hour wait for an ambulance, at which point he was moved into a vehicle and taken to hospital. The Belconnen player has already gone under the knife as his teammates wait for Capital Football to make a ruling on the status of their game against Gungahlin. It is a ruling they must make given such a lengthy delay would have forced the game to be finished under lights - even if they were only on for an hour or two. Thus, the referee was forced to bring play to an early end in fear of more complaints from nearby residents about the lights being used for the exact reason they are there. Capital Football rules state 75 per cent of the match has to be played for a result to stand. Chief executive Phil Brown will analyse a referee report on the fixture on Monday, after which the governing body's competitions committee will deliver a verdict. It begs the question: are community groups beginning to ruin our sporting landscape? Jubilant community groups celebrated the government's rejection of a proposed redevelopment of Manuka Oval, one which would have transformed the area. The $800 million "Manuka Green" proposal would have seen land around Manuka Oval developed for a hotel, serviced apartments, retail, residential and office space, while also bankrolling an $80 million to $100 million upgrade of the sporting venue. The GWS Giants-Grocon unsolicited proposal had been roundly criticised and rejected by community groups and at a town hall meeting. Why? Concerns about the impact on heritage, especially the Manuka Pool, congestion in the area, and the idea of a developer getting the green light outside of a competitive process. Friends of Manuka Pool president Clive Hamilton said at the time it was a "victory for community activism". So what did that "victory" get us? For one, we are left with a cricket and football venue in dire need of upgrades if the city is to lure more elite sporting content to the capital. You know, the type of content which attracts tourists and thus pours money into businesses around the area. So we are left with an almost non-existent nightlife around a suburb which could be so much more. Some have been left to rue a lack of vision for Canberra's inner south. Well folks, there was a vision, and look what happened there. Let's hope Capital Football's vision on the other side of town, a new $24.5 million "home of football" in Throsby, can give Canberra United the home they deserve. The home they can light up at night during a W-League grand final.

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