WYMESWOLD AIRFIELD LIAISON GROUP
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD AT WYMESWOLD AIRFIELD
AT 2:30 PM ON TUESDAY 24th MARCH 2009
Present:
Burton, Cotes & Prestwold Parish Council
(BC&P PC):Alan Carr (AC)
Margaret Pickford (MP)
Rachael Saunders (RS)
Everyman Racing:John Farnham (JF)
Phill Wardle (PW)
Robin Kellard (RK)
Hoton Parish Council:Kevin Castledine (KC)
Beth Storrs (BS)
Tipping Resources:David Burke (DB)
Borough Councillor for The Wolds:Jenny Bokor (JB)
Prestwold Estate:Edward Packe-Drury-Lowe (EJPDL)
Charnwood Borough Council (CBC):Peter Blitz (PB)
Beverley Green (BG)
Mather Jamie:Andrew Bamber (AMB)
Janet Stewart (AMB’s PA)
The Caravan Club:Len Short (Events Manager) (LS)
Action
Apologies
Gary Grayston of Airbossworld Ltd confirmed to Mather Jamie that he could
not attend as the meeting had the meeting as it had been scheduled for a
Tuesday, which was his regular ‘day off’. He suggested that Tuesdays be
avoided in future to allow him to attend.
1.0
PB/
AMB
The Caravan Club National Rally – May 2009
AMB introduced LS as the Events Manager for The Caravan Club and invited
him to provide an overview of the forthcoming national rally. LS confirmed
that discussions with Prestwold Estate had commenced about 2½ years ago
and had culminated with the event being scheduled for the later May Bank
Holiday in 2009 (Friday 22nd to Tuesday 26th May 2009).
The Caravan Club has 375,000 members across the country, and national
rallies are held to provide an opportunity for their members to visit a
different area of the country, or to support their local area. The rallies are
attended mainly by families in either caravans or motor homes. A range of
on-site entertainment is generally laid on, including live music, concerts and
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homemade wine competitions.
The site on Prestwold Estate can accommodate 3,000-3,500 caravans
depending on the positioning and services required by each caravan
(electrical hook-ups etc). LS tabled a plan of the site and traffic
management plans with routeing instructions from the surrounding
motorways and local road network.
Traffic Management
All pitches would be allocated in advance and identified by a colour to
correspond with specific routeing instructions. There would therefore be no
need for ralliers to rush to the site to secure the best positions. Temporary
A- road signage had been applied for by TMS (Traffic Management
Services). There would be 4 entrance gates; colour coded yellow, blue, red
and green. The blue gate would be used for early traffic and construction /
set-up vehicles. From Thursday onwards, the other gates would also be
open, with Friday being the main incoming day.
RS enquired if, in the light of all of the planned on-site activities, would the
ralliers leave the site at all? (i.e. to visit other local attractions). LS
confirmed that they worked with the Tourist Information Service to provide
attendees with information about local activities and attractions.
MP asked what procedures were in place to ensure that local footpaths
were observed. LS stated that a number of areas would be flagged up to
ralliers as out-of-bounds or sensitive e.g. footpath E9 – the hatched line on
the site plan indicated that the footpath was to be kept clear.
EJPDL asked if the ‘Parish Walks’ brochure was still in circulation. RS
confirmed that she had a copy, which she could give to LS to copy and
distribute with the rest of the rally information, or made available in the
information marquee. RS undertook to provide LS with a copy of the
brochure.
RS/LS
JF enquired about waste management. LS confirmed that they used a single
contractor for both wet and dry waste and that everything was removed
from site. They also used litter-pickers throughout the rally. EJPDL
commented that with small rallies that had been held on the Estate in the
past, everything had been left spotless.
JF enquired about procedures in wet or muddy conditions. LS confirmed
that they operated a ‘no vehicle movements’ policy via a yellow flag system,
which meant that no caravans could be moved unless in an emergency until
ground conditions were suitable.
With regard to tribute bands / live music, MP asked how the loudspeakers
would be positioned to cause least annoyance to local residents. LS stated
that sound emissions would be 60 dB or less for properties at a distance of
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100 metres, and confirmed that they hired calibrated sound-recording
equipment, which would be monitored by their Health & Safety marshals.
AC asked about traffic marshalling i.e. as the traffic routeing plan prohibited
ralliers from entering Burton, would there be a marshal posted at Burton to
police this. LS confirmed that The Caravan Club had no jurisdiction over
highways and had to rely on ralliers following the instructions. The
temporary signage would direct ralliers along the correct routes. Satellite
navigation occasionally caused a problem when postcodes were used, and
they therefore advised ralliers not to enter postcodes into their navigation
systems and to follow the routeing instructions instead.
BG asked if time restrictions had been set for the tribute bands / music. LS
stated that the events were scheduled to finish by 10:30 pm or 10:45 pm at
the latest.
AC asked if the ralliers would have any access to the tracks at the airfield.
PW confirmed that Everyman would be offering experience days to ralliers
on the Saturday (but not the Sunday or Monday), and confirmed that noone would be allowed to take their own cars onto the tracks.
2.0
Bund Progress
AMB invited DB to provide an update on the progress of the bund. DB
confirmed that due to the current economic climate, the construction
industry had almost ground to a halt. Waste volumes were well down, with
no imminent sign of improvement.
DB confirmed that lorries were continuing to bring material to site, and that
this was being taken up the bund with an excavator, but the bund had not
yet been shaped or contoured in any way. With improving weather, and a
week to 10 days of dry windy weather to dry out the surface, they would be
able to take machinery up on top of the bund to start the contouring work.
The far end of the bund towards the hangar was slightly high in places; in
drier weather, the excess would be levelled off and eventually used to fill in
the access road.
AMB asked if both entrances were being used by the tipping lorries. DB
confirmed that they were, but that the Wymeswold Lane entrance was a
secondary entrance and was only used when required. It had last been
used a fortnight earlier when they were taking in material from a specific
project located in that direction.
AMB asked the BC&P PC representatives how they were finding the
operation. AC confirmed that the routeing restrictions appeared to be
working, although some empty lorries had been observed moving through
Burton heading east. DB confirmed that they kept records of all vehicle
movements, and that if residents had any concerns, he could check times,
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dates and registration numbers provided against the vehicle movement
records. AMB confirmed that it had been agreed at the planning appeal that
any drivers who flouted the routeing restrictions would be banned from site.
DB clarified that one mistake was permitted in this regard.
RS asked if the vehicles bringing the bund material were the same type as
motorway maintenance vehicles. DB confirmed that they were mainly 8wheeled rigid non-articulated tippers and were essentially the same as
motorway maintenance lorries.
AMB stated that when the Planning Inspector had given consent for the
operation, a certain time-frame was given for completion of the bund;
however, it was acknowledged at the time that this could be tight. CBC
planners had the ability to allow extra time for the bund to be completed,
and PB had been sent a letter in this regard. PB confirmed this, and
confirmed to the Group that the first relevant appeal condition was that
commercial days were not permitted to continue for longer than 6 months
after the appeal decision unless the construction of the bund had been
commenced. As the bund had been commenced, however, the second
condition was that the bund should be completed within 15 months from
the commencement date unless otherwise agreed with the Planning
Authority. The Inspector had ruled that commercial days could not continue
after this period unless the bund had been completed.
DB confirmed that the bund had commenced in January 2008; PB
considered that the end of the 15-month period was therefore the
beginning of April 2009. Everyman Racing’s solicitor had written to PB
requesting a 2-year extension to complete the bund. PB confirmed that no
response had been given as yet - they firstly had to decide how to process
the request, and then whether the request was reasonable within the spirit
of the condition. PB personally considered that 2 years was a long time.
JB asked if there were any Health & Safety issues associated with the
Caravan Club rally and a large number of children being on site and
potentially being attracted to machinery sitting on the slope of the bund. LS
confirmed that the bund area would be marked out of bounds, and DB
confirmed that machinery was always parked on flat ground. EJPDL said
that there would be numerous areas of the Estate that would be marked as
out of bounds to ralliers, but that this had not yet been fully discussed. PW
commented that as Everyman would have cars on site all weekend, there
would be an element of supervision of the bund site.
3.0
Noise Monitoring
AMB confirmed that BG had recently conducted noise tests from the
footpath off Seymour Close, Burton, and it had been noted that the bund
was proving effective at screening noise - when cars were in a clear line of
sight, they were audible, but when they moved behind the bund, they were
inaudible. AMB asked if Burton residents had noticed a difference? AC said
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that it was difficult to say, as the noise generated depended on accelerator
use and whether the cars were on a relatively ‘noisy or quiet’ part of the
track.
AMB confirmed that Everyman Racing had specific operational policies in
place until the bund had been completed. PW confirmed that vehicles were
being slowed to 50 and then 40 mph at the Burton end of the track, and
also that he went out onto the track on Saturdays with noise monitoring
equipment.
JF stated that there was now no tyre screeching from the chicane at all. AC
confirmed they could hear engine noise, but not tyre noise. PW confirmed
that Adam Trapp was constantly monitoring noise on the track.
PW pointed out that the participants weren’t professional drivers, and
speeds therefore were kept down, with 5-6,000 revs being the limit. The
use of the gearbox was also tightly controlled. MP asked how many gears
the cars had; PW confirmed that there were 6.
AMB confirmed that one particular Lamborghini had arrived at the airfield
with a sports exhaust that opened up at a specific number of revs, which
resulted in some loss of noise deadening, although the noise was still within
specified limits. The exhaust had since been modified to counteract this
problem, and BG had confirmed that she was happy with the work that had
been done. PW confirmed that other cars were also being modified at a cost
of approx. £1,000 each, and that they were also looking at a ‘bullet’ for the
rear end of the cars, which extended the exhaust and quietened the noise
produced.
BG confirmed that she and her colleague had visited the track on a number
of Saturdays and had identified the Lamborghini as being a priority for
modification. They would re-visit once the other Lamborghinis had been
modified to take further noise readings.
AMB pointed out that more noise was generated on recreational days than
commercial days. PW agreed and confirmed that production cars tended to
have smaller engines and quieter engine notes.
PW confirmed that all drivers attended full briefings on recreational days
and were briefed on what conditions they were expected to adhere to and
how to change gear correctly (i.e. quietly). MP asked what speed drivers
reached; PW confirmed 140 mph. MP commented that a decrease in speed
from 140 to 40 mph would inevitably generate engine noise. PW stated that
the noise would only be excessive if the gear changing was too vigorous the track had gear change markers alongside it, and it was in Everyman’s
interest to ensure that gears were used correctly to protect the cars.
MP asked how many points of noise monitoring there were. PW confirmed
that noise was monitored from the diner (fixed constant monitoring), and
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also from the track with mobile equipment. Static tests were taken 1.5
metres from the exhaust at a 45° angle (101 dBA limit; typically 70-80
dBA). Drive-by tests had an 87.5 dBA limit, but they tried to keep well
under this.
JF confirmed that they had spent approx. £10,000 on equipment and now
used computer monitoring where noise and video data were recorded
together. A particular car could therefore be identified and specifically
monitored if it appeared to be overly noisy. PW confirmed that drivers were
black-flagged and brought in if they were driving incorrectly. AC asked if BG
was satisfied with Everyman’s equipment; BG confirmed that she was, and
that she had provided advice to Everyman over updating their equipment.
EJPDL asked how long noise data was kept; JF confirmed that their hard
drive had about 7 days of capacity.
AC asked if there was a persistent problem with a particular car, would it be
removed from the airfield? PW did not answer, but commented that a lot of
people came to the airfield purely to listen to high-powered engine noise.
(As JB was about to leave the meeting, the discussion moved on to the
proposed sphereing operation).
5.
Possible Future Proposals
iii)
Sphereing
JF explained that sphereing would involve people rolling down the bund
strapped inside a 12’ diameter plastic ball. There would be no noise or
environmental issue.
AMB confirmed that if the proposal was progressed, a planning application
would be lodged to form two troughs down the bund. JF confirmed that the
balls wouldn’t be seen from nearly dwellings, as the troughs would be sunk
into the bund. AMB added that the troughs would be surfaced with a
membrane that allowed grass to grow through.
MP asked if they would see vehicles going up and down the bund. AMB
confirmed that the bund would be screened by trees. MP asked how this
would work in winter when the trees had lost their leaves; JF pointed out
that sphereing tended to be a summer activity.
AMB hoped that the proposal would be largely welcomed as a ‘no-noise’
activity.
(JB & LS left the meeting at this point).
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4.0
Hospitality Building Update
AMB reminded the Group that at the last meeting, plans had been tabled
for a new corporate hospitality building, but that with the current economic
conditions, Everyman were looking at alternative ideas to achieve the same
result.
PW confirmed that they were in discussion with a company that could
supply them with a hard-sided marquee. The marquee would be erected in
place of three of the current Portakabins, which would be an aesthetic
improvement. They were considering a 23-25 metre x 9 metre marquee,
which would be white (the only colour available), with possibly a glass front
and / or sides.
EJPDL enquired about the life expectancy of this type of building i.e. if it
would last 10-20 years or look run-down after 5? PW understood that it
could be expected to last 10 years or so, but emphasised that it was
intended as a temporary measure only - a new eco-building would be
considered again when economic conditions improved.
AMB confirmed that they were simply flagging the proposal to the Group at
this stage as a potential future planning application.
5.
Possible Future Proposals
i)
Farmers’ Markets
AMB confirmed that a car boot operation had been trialled for a few
Sundays in 2006, but had not proved particularly successful. Farmers’
markets were now being considered, which could be run on a certain
number of days under permitted development rights, but to formalise
matters, AMB would prefer to see a consent granted for a specific number
of days. MP stated that there seemed to be a number of farmers’ markets in
the area already. AMB said that the areas of tarmac on the airfield would be
an advantage, as the markets could be held in wet or dry weather.
MP enquired about regulations with regard to holding markets. PB
confirmed that CBC operated a competition policy controlling markets within
a 6 5/8 mile radius (Wymeswold Airfield is within this radius). AMB
confirmed that this depended on what was being sold at the market, and
that he had secured an advice note from CBC advising that there would be
no issue provided that the market was not competing with any of the
Council markets. Every step would be taken not to flout the regulations.
AMB confirmed that there was no plan to make an application at the time,
but that it was a possibility.
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ii)
Bike Training
JF advised the group that due to changes in the motorbike testing
regulations, there was an opportunity to run Compulsory Basic Training
(CBT) courses on the airfield. Currently training was carried out in retail
parks and other public off-road areas, but it had been determined that
these areas did not allow riders to be tested sufficiently and larger off-road
areas were now required. AMB confirmed that there would be no bikes
travelling to the airfield for the training courses, as riders were not allowed
on the open road until they had a licence. The bikes would be provided on
site by the training school.
RS asked about the possibility of the airfield also being used for car driving
training. JF confirmed that junior driving classes were already in operation.
8.0
Any Other Business
8.1
Directional Signage – General
Discussion over traffic management for The Caravan Club rally led to a
related discussion on highway signage in general. EJPDL confirmed that if
people entered the airfield postcode into their navigation systems, they
were directed to the main gates of the Hall. When they realised their
mistake, they often made a U-turn and attempted to re-join Prestwold Lane
from the main driveway, which was dangerous (there had been 5 or 6
recent accidents / near accidents). EJPDL enquired whether it would be
worthwhile trying to get a separate postcode for the airfield – AMB
commented that as navigation systems worked from a database, this would
be ineffective for all but the latest cars.
JF commented that brown signage could not be secured, as Everyman
Racing was not open to the public every day. AMB confirmed that a blackand-white road signage scheme was under discussion with Leicestershire
County Council and undertook to progress the same at the earliest
opportunity.
8.2
AMB
Proposed Rally Circuit Revisions
Although not on the meeting agenda, a discussion took place following the
hospitality building report regarding the proposed repositioning of
Everyman’s tarmac and gravel rally tracks. The current tracks are slightly
removed from the main hub of activities, which was causing logistical
problems. Everyman considered that it made sense to relocate the tracks to
take advantage of the existing parking areas and facilities on site. A plan
was tabled indicating the proposed new positions of the tracks to two areas
close to the Everyman ‘hub’, with farming operations continuing between
them.
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EJPDL commented that it would be good for all activities to be located in
the centre of the airfield away from the surrounding villages, and that the
changes would present further opportunities for permanent landscaping (i.e.
trees screens on the edges of the airfield) and enhancing ecological
diversity.
AMB confirmed that they would need to demonstrate as a part of any
planning application that no additional noise would be created by the
changes, and that PB had been asked whether Everyman Racing could use
the same noise consultant as CBC had used for the planning appeal.
AMB confirmed that the new rally areas would be scraped out and the spoil
used to create mounds around the areas; an idea that had been approved
by the noise consultant. The mounds would help to screen both noise and
the rally cars themselves.
PW confirmed that they were having more rally cars built (Subarus), and
that these were being built with lower noise emissions in mind. RK and
Adam Trapp had also been visiting other circuits to see what noise
mitigation measures were in place. RK confirmed that bunding was being
used on other circuits, but that there was a gap between the track and the
bunding for Health & Safety reasons.
8.3
Model Electric Cars
PW advised the Group that he had been approached by a Japanese
manufacturer of electric radio-controlled model cars. A 50 metre x 50 metre
area was required to run the cars, which were battery powered with a 10minute run time. There would be no noise issue, and the proposal was
really just intended an extra activity for children while their fathers were
driving on the airfield. AMB asked PB if this activity would require planning
permission; PB advised that it was likely, but whether or not it could be
considered as a material change of use would depend on how often the
activity was undertaken and what size of area was involved.
AMB advised that the sphereing and electric car activities might be run as a
single planning application.
8.4
Cycling Clubs
PW also raised the potential of cycling clubs using the airfield, with riders
coming to site on a Sunday to ride 100 laps of the track before returning
home. EJPDL commented that the airfield would also be ideal for practising
cycling off the public highway.
8.5
S106
KC asked PB if the airfield operators could be obliged to enter into a S106
Agreement to improve local road network problems, with the most obvious
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improvement being visibility to the right at the end of Prestwold Lane. PB
advised that there were strict rules about S106 Agreements - tests had to
be applied before they could legitimately be required. There had to be a
demonstrated need for the improvements (i.e. by the Highways Agency),
and what was required to be done had to be proportional to the
development that the S106 was attached to. One additional activity on the
airfield was unlikely to justify a S106, particularly if visitors were not coming
to the airfield specifically to undertake this additional activity.
KC suggested that a restriction should be placed on any additional airfield
activities limiting their use to people involved in the driving activities.
8.6
Sikh Rally
AMB advised that the 2008 Sikh rally on the airfield had been a great
success, with approx. 40,000 attendees and no reported local road network
problems or queuing on the public highway. EJPDL confirmed that not all
40,000 attendees had been on site at once, and that a number of shuttle
buses had been used, which resulted in fewer vehicle movements. EJPDL
and AMB both confirmed how impressed they had been with the way that
the Sikhs had organised the event.
AMB advised that there was now a proposal to hold a further rally on 5th
July 2009.
8.7
Event Traffic Monitoring
BS enquired if there was any plan to monitor local roads to assess the
impact of events such as the Sikh and Caravan Club rallies (as a proactive
step so that it could be demonstrated that no problems were caused).
EJPDL commented that The Caravan Club was a very experienced
organisation and that he did not anticipate any problems. He considered
that some sort of survey could potentially be put in place over the weekend,
but that any problems should be self-evident. RS confirmed that Burton
residents would certainly be monitoring the progress of the event. BS
commented that some form of ‘soft monitoring’ might be beneficial to allow
them to report back to the Parish Councils. EJPDL confirmed that The
Caravan Club would have marshals on every gate, and that each one could
be potentially provided with a clicker counter.
AC advised that they had been warned at their last Parish Council meeting
by a member of the public about a caravan rally in Melton Mowbray, during
which Melton Mowbray was reportedly “grid-locked”. AMB commented that
this was by no means unusual in Melton Mowbray, and that last year’s
Caravan Club rally in Holkham (Norfolk) had caused no highway problems.
RS said that it would be a case of “wait and see”, to which AMB replied that
the Caravan Club rallies moved around the country and would be unlikely to
be back at Prestwold for 20-30 years in any event.
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8.8
Dog-Walker
PW reported that they were having a problem with a dog-walker on site,
who was walking around the runways causing a general nuisance and
complaining about digger noise etc. He asked if any of the Parish Council
representatives had any knowledge of who this was. None of the Group
were able to assist, and AMB suggested that PW took a photograph of the
man to assist with identifying him.
9.0
Date, Time and Place of Next Meeting
AMB proposed that Group meetings should continue to be held on a 6monthly basis unless there was a specific need for the same, and this was
agreed.
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