Castle Combe Needs Your Support

[Ian Sowman]

gixxer - where is the evidence for the council spending lots of money to get racing at Castle Combe stopped? Admittedly I only had a cursory look at the council website, but what I read (from the recent past) seemed very well-balanced and fair. Don't forget that if the council does receive complaints from people about noise - or anything else - providing it falls within the council remit they have a duty to investigate.

[SALEEN S7R]

Has anyone thought of doing a petition from www.petitionline.com? Just a idea, it could gather a lot of support - and if enough websites promoted the petition who knows how many votes this could get, certainly worth a try IMO. What does everyone else think?

[pitcrew]

go for it good idea!

[chocmonster7]

This is the same kind of hassle that Croft is having. People who have moved into the area knowing full well there is a race track then complaining about the noise and trafic. Really annoys me!

[gixxer]

Ian-i can remember the last time this issue went to court the council lost the case and where handed a very large bill for legal fees the report was printed in our local paper.
Yes i agree that every council has a duty to investagate any complaints,its just its the same one everytime.
There are a few locals who'd rather see it stopped altogether these are the poeple who complain,there was even one complaint that if anything was built in the centre of the circuit it'll spoil the veiw...considering there's 30ft banking think that one just sums up the attitude of some locals totally barmy if you ask me

[pitcrew]

i got an email this morning heres a copy:

Dear All
Thanks for sending your emails.
I have approached the head of Environment Health to ascertain what the current situation is and to see if there is a way forward.
I have many contacts at the circuit, and am sympathetic to your plight.
Not sure what can be done, but I am not ignoring you.
Regards
Cllr Allison Bucknell

thats one reply out of 30 odd emails i sent
Pitcrew

[Eddy V]

[QUOTE=EvilPumpkin]Oh it's not just the UK - we had the same problem at Mondello. Circuit has been there 35 years. 3 years ago, barrister moves in about 5 miles from the circuit. Next thing you know *poof* no more 24 hour 2cv race.

Same problem in Belgium, Holland or Germany. There are far too many NIMBYs
everywhere. They live close to a motorway: a wonderful thing that they can use it, but the noise!! , or similar complaints about airports and.....

[topwelshman]

Email sent expressing my thoughts on the matter & copied to all councillors on the Combe list.

I hate people who have nothing better to do than complain, this is a great circuit and anything that generates income for the local economy should be viewed and held in higher regard.

[davidjhorsley]

I got that mail aswell pitcrew and also got this one as well

I am responding to this e-mail as I opposed the imposition of the noise abatement order and I am firmly in the camp of the pro racing lobby of Castle Coombe circuit. I have recently brought my objections to the attention of both the Chief Executive of NWDC and to the local press in response to lobbying from the management of the circuit with whom I agree.
Sincerely
John Ireland



Councillor John R. Ireland
Member for Lickhill Ward, Calne.
N.W.D.C.

[gixxer]

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU THAT HAVE RESPONDED SO QUICKLY

Being fairly local to combe you do get to hear and read more from what i've been told these who complain are in a minorty but seem to manage to stir up a hornets nest!!

From reading the report on changing a sat meeting to a sundaywould mean circuit would have 3 weekend meetings a year reducing the total race meetings to 9 per year.[losing one sat]

There was 4 complaints.....says it all really

[midgetman]

It's sad, isn't it. But here's a laugh - a couple of years ago the moaner-in-chief organised a private track day at the circuit, and moaned when his mate failed the noise test!

Item in our local paper about it today (Gixxer - have you seen the Gazette & Herald?), seems the complaints stem around the idea that Combe is attracting the Touring Cars and 50k+ people. One comment was that recently there were queues back to Yatton Keynell in one direction and Castle Combe in the other, so the traffic management "isn't working". Irony is, IIRC that was a track day (the Rally Supercar Day or whatever it's called, when McRae turned up). So racers are penalised for peripheral use of the track.

What can we do to help? Make sure our cars are under the noise limit, make sure we drive sensibly around the villages, and above all SPEND LOADS OF MONEY outside the circuit.

Nice support from John Ireland, unfortunately he lives 15 miles away so his views will be on the margin.

[gixxer]

Midgetman-no i've not seen that report yet expect the wilts times may?? have a copy in it.

yes that rally day was tha circuits fault they only had the quarry entrance open and trying to get 10,000 in then out was a nightmare!!

Hopefully they will learn,and move the MG-x passenger rides from the other exits by camp and tower to allow better access

really speaking combe did themselves no favours during that event as good as it was!

Nice to see that some of the council members support combe

[Woolley]

Well, for what it's worth, I'm visiting the area soon, and the choice of destination is because Combe is in it, so that's 3 days of tourist dosh as a result of the circuit being there.

[Peter Mallett]

Will that be for Easter?

[Mathias]

Just a note from a local authority employee and, er, planning officer... from a planning perspective, since at least 1994 there has been a national policy (expressed in PPG24, if you're interested) that no new "noise-sensitive" development (which includes residential) should be permitted in areas known to be subject to noise disturbance (with some caveats). Now, I can't be hearsed to do any in-depth stuff on this, and I'm sure CC will have engaged consultants in the matter, but, if any of the complaints come from anyone living in a dwelling built since that policy was in force (and it may be 1994 or it may be from a circular of 1973 which I can't find), then there is a case for making a complaint...? I'm probably wrong.

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Will that be for Easter?

It will. You playing?

[Peter Mallett]

Yep. Flying in Sat night, picking the car up Sunday and arriving Monday am.

[Lee Purnell]

Just found out that my South Africa holiday...I mean..., busy couple of weeks working, is no longer going to clash with the Easter meeting at Combe Peter, so I am afraid you may have to put up with me popping by to say hi!

[Peter Mallett]

Hi Lee we're a bit off topic here but looking forward to seeing you.

[Dan Friel]

there were queues back to Yatton Keynell in one direction and Castle Combe in the other, so the traffic management "isn't working".

Max, they reckon that's a traffic queue! If the queue had got back to Chippenham - then I'd expect complaints..

Considering the usual stringent noise regs at Combe, and then the introduction of GT cars, I'm not too surprised that there's been complaints. Hopefully, CC and NWDC can sort it out.

See you at Easter.

[davidjhorsley]

hey all check out this mail i got today

Thank you for your email.

I had no knowledge of any noise order however I shall investigate matters further.

Regards,

Gill Offord

NWDC Member - Pickwick Ward

Interesting !!!!

[Al Weyman]

If it is only F3 and GT's then is t too much to ask them to be silenced like we have to. If I can silence a 580bhp V8 Camaro engine to within the required lmits why can't they and anyhow even as a life long race fan I thik the row from an F3 engine is quite frakly horrible and painful so I would have no problem them being silenced a bit. It always seems to me the majority of club racers have to suffer for the minority.

[TheNewBob]

They can ditch F3 alltogether as far as I'm concerned lol, horrible little machines. Them and FFord. The noise sends me to sleep.

The thing is with GT racing, they advertise it as being big, brutal and noisy. If they silence all the cars (and to be fair, it's only really the 360 GTC's, TVR's and Morgans which make the big noises, and that amounts to about 5 or 6 cars maximum) then there isn't really much point in bothering.

The number of racing fans who'd love to see this championship locally is surely much larger than the number of "miserables" complaining about it. So they're sure to be outvoted in that respect. Besides which, somebody already said, if they don't like it, why not go out shopping for the day? or go away for the weekend?

They already have noise measures put in at the circuit, so they've tried to reach a compromise. It seems like the only people being unreasonable are the protestors, unwilling to let a group of people have their fun for the day. It's not like there's any violent football crowds or drunken hoards creating lots of property damage.

Maybe the locals should stop thinking of their own hides for once and realise that they are not the only people in this world who are allowed to enjoy themselves and get what they want, and let the people in the area who DO like the racing go and see their opportunity to view the events in their own area of the country, rather than having to travel long distances to other circuits

[Al Weyman]

Well I hate football personally and I live about a mile or so downwind from Watford football club and when them or Saracens are playing the crowd noise can be loud if the wind is in the right direction. Also the traffic problems in the town which are already bad are exasperated. But would I want the club closed down, no way, I think it adds to the general ambience of the place and it would be a sad day if they were made to move to an out of town location. Also light aircraft circle over my bungalow most weekends (those noisy little things are not silenced, why?) as the students do circuit and bumps from Elstree. But so what they were here first and annoying as it can be you live with it although I think they should adobt the German approach and silence them sllghtly.

[gixxer]

Thenewbob- yeah after reading a report on NWDC website in which combe had applyed to use another sunday for racing [but to lose one sat in a swap]
THEY HAD 4 COMPLIANTS.....says it all flaming NIMBY's