Noise from the Three Maids Hill motocross site, near Headbourne Worthy, has blighted the lives of residents across northern Winchester and the surrounding villages for a number of years. The owner of the site had recently reapplied to use the site for motocross activities, which entails motorbike racing, often on weekends and holidays.
Cllr Stephen Godfrey, who represents Wonston & Micheldever explained: “Although the appeal has now been dismissed, the Inspector has only done so on the grounds of the absence of an ecology report and not because the motocross would cause too much noise for local residents. This pyrrhic victory will almost certainly mean a new application will be submitted - with an ecology report - in the near future and it will be hard to resist.”
Local MP Steve Brine said: “While I am pleased residents will not have to suffer the noise of the motocross in the short-term, I am under no illusion that, because of the nature of the refusal, this could be nothing more than a mere stay of execution.
“What I will say to the people of the very wide area surrounding the Headbourne Worthy site is that I will continue to work with, among others, Cllr Stephen Godfrey, to fight for the peace and quiet the overwhelming majority of people want.
“I have consistently said that I have nothing against motocross in itself. I am sure it is extremely fun, and is very rewarding for lots of people, but the fact is this is simply the wrong location, and I am disappointed that the inspector did not seem to recognise this.”
Cllr Godfrey added: “I will be looking at the options open to the LPA, but the judgement is fairly damning about the evidence provided by the officers in support of refusal. Unless Winchester can adopt new planning policy and/or planning fees that will deter unwanted developments like this in the very near future, our neighbours are going to be subject to greater noise intrusion.”
Pictured; Steve and Cllr Stephen Godfrey (in happier times) have campaigned together for many years over the motocross noise
More information...
You can see what Steve has said previously on the issue at http://stevebrine.com/record.jsp?type=news&ID=245 and http://stevebrine.com/record.jsp?type=news&ID=242
You can also see more on the decision by accessing the PDF reader below.