WITH less than 1000 days to go until the Ryder Cup, plans for a new £90,000 10-bay driving range at a Newport golf club were given the green light.

The Tredegar Park Golf Club, Parc-y-Brain Road, Rogerstone, was given the go-ahead for the 31m wide bay and the erection of four 8m flood lights following a meeting of the city council's planning committee, and work looks set to begin almost immediately.

Although planning officials received residents' letters objecting to the proposal - stating noise and light pollution would impact on their nearby homes - the application was granted with conditions to minimise these factors.

Planning officers conceded the site was within 100m of three residential properties and "the main impact would be from the floodlights and the noise from balls being hit."

Conditions imposed on the application include a restriction of opening hours, from 8am - 9pm (7pm in winter), a restriction on the angle of floodlights, and dark green or black ball net fencing.

Tredegar Park Golf Club general manager, Stuart Salway, said the aim is to have the driving range open in around 12 weeks' time, ready for the new golf season.

"We're absolutely delighted," he said of the granting of the planning permission for the project which has been made possible with the support of the Ryder Cup Legacy Fund, set up in the aftermath of the awarding of the 2010 contest to Newport's Celtic Manor Resort.

Mr Salway hopes the prestigious competition coming to Gwent will encourage more local people to take up the sport at the Rogerstone club which already has 600 members.

"We hope the driving range will help us to encourage the development of grassroots golf in the area," he said.