THE THREAT TO MOTORSPORT.

By Neil Clarke

So, you have bought your new house and, having settled in and got to know the neighbours, you are setting down roots when, without warning or any consultation they build a motor racing track next door and sentence you to disturbed evenings and weekends! You would be, not surprisingly, rather upset and perfectly within your rights to expect to have your voice heard and responded to.

But what if it was the other way around?

You buy your new house knowing that there is a race track next door and then start complaining about the noise with the aim of shutting it down?

This happens all the time and not just with race tracks. the same applies to private airports, sports facilities,  playgrounds and churches - yes churches! It was only in June that reports emerged of the threat to the bellringing at Aldburgh Church in Suffolk when the neighbours complained about the noise. The church and its bells had been there for centuries but the neighbours, who had presumably lived there for a rather shorter time, thought that they were within their rights to try and get it stopped regardless of the feelings of others.

Fortunately most of these complaints are listened to by the authorities, investigated (at the expense of all of us) and then dismissed. A long established activity on a site is recognized as having an ongoing value to the community in general and the more intolerant and unreasonable views of a vocal minority are recognized for what they are.

Unfortunately this is not always the case and motor sport venues around the country that were once away from populated areas are facing closure or strict curfews because the residents of  new housing estates that are being built nearby complain. The problem is that there is nothing built into planning legislation that protects long established uses from repeated attack by newcomers.

Keith Watts has started a petition on the Downing Street website to address this issue. The point that he makes is not unreasonable and is worth bringing to the attention of the Government. Your leisure activities, particularly when they involve motorised vehicles, have an impact on others and it is only reasonable to engage in them with care and respect for the views of others but not everyone with an anti view is reasonable and they can involve authorities in detailed and expensive investigations if there is no established benchmark.

The petition has now closed after attracting over 13,000 signatures. If you would like to see the Government's response go HERE

If you disagree with the views expressed in this article and wish to add to the debate please send us your response and we will publish it here.