Race track noise barrier may have to go, say planners
COUNCIL OFFICERS AND NEIGHBOURS AMONG THOSE WHO FEAR DARLEY MOOR FEATURE INEFFECTIVE
A NOISE barrier built alongside a hairpin bend at Darley Moor Race Circuit may have to be demolished because district council planners say it does not do enough to block out sounds of revving motorbikes.
The circuit’s general secretary Eddie Nelson has applied retrospectively to retain a 320-metre mound of earth which was dug out to act as a noise attenuation bund to keep noise from race days from disturbing neighbours.
However neighbours, council officers and other consultees fear the four-metre-high bund is ineffective, and walking groups have said it blocks off a public right of way.
Derbyshire Dales District Council’s planning officer, Chris Whitmore, has said in a report that noise monitoring by the applicant, carried out on a series of race days, does not adequately demonstrate that noise has been reduced by the mounds.
This appears to be supported by views of residents in nearby villages, who say there are no houses in the vicinity behind the bund.
Edlaston and Wyaston Parish Council has also objected to the plans, questioning any benefit the bund offers to villagers.
Meanwhile, the district council’s Environmental Health department has also said the noise measurements submitted by the circuit are “insufficient”, and walking groups point out that the bund affects three foothpaths.
One member of the public did write in support of the planning application, pointing out that the circuit is well established as a motorcycle and autograss racing venue, and that all vehicles must comply to strict noise regulations.
“There are many activities in life that impinge on others in different ways, not only noise – as a society we have a duty to ensure we mitigate, but equally importantly we have a duty to tolerate”, the correspondent wrote.
“Simply ‘not liking’ something can never be a just reason to expect it to be eliminated; in other words, those same people whose activity offends you may be equally offended by an activity of yours.”
However, Mr Whitmore has recommended planning committee members refuse the application when they meet to discuss it next week.
He said in his report: “The application seeks to retain significant earthworks in the form of a bund that, by reason of its siting and scale, would achieve little in terms of noise attenuation from the noise generated by motorcycle activities on the adjacent race track and introduce a man-made land form that would result in significant harm to the character and appearance of this part of countryside and the expansive, flat landscape, particularly when viewed from the network of public footpaths in the locality.”
Mr Whitmore added he feels the bund constitutes an “encroaching and unwarranted” form of development.
Planning committee members will discuss the application on Tuesday, May 10, with the meeting due to start at 6pm in the council chamber at Matlock Town Hall.
Simply ‘not liking’ something can never be a just reason to expect it to be eliminated.
Letter in support of application