A new planning battle is looming over plans to bring “Air Soft Play” War Games to the site of a former clay pigeon shooting site on land at Rixton-with-Glazebrook, Warrington.
Owls Hoot Target Club, Prospect Farm Prospect Lane, Rixton-with-glazebrook, Warrington, WA3 6EH, has failed in a bid for a Non-Material Amendment to allow use of the site for ‘Air Soft Play’ War Games, with Warrington Borough Council planners saying it will require full planning permission.
The current use is as a clay pigeon business and associated air rifle/archery use. The clay pigeon business has recently closed and the intention is to substitute this part for air soft play games.
Planners say that in accordance with S96A – A Non-Material Amendment can only have regard to the non-material amendments sought only – and is not a reissue of the original planning permission (which still stands).
Clay pigeon shooting falls within a sui generis use. A change of a sui generis use cannot be considered as part of a non-material amendment. It is a use class on its own regardless of the similarities and as such requires a full application.
Planning permission at the site was granted for a change of use (from agricultural land) to provide a clay pigeon shooting club, clubhouse and associated parking at the site on appeal after initially being refused permission. In determining the appeal, consideration was also afforded to other shooting-related activities at the site beyond simply clay
pigeon shooting, including rifle ranges and archery, the ongoing use of which was also permitted.
Specifically, this application seeks consent to enable use of the site for Air Soft games – a form of, in planning terms at least, war games involving the use of air-fired BB guns.
The clay pigeon shooting club was established on the land as far back as June 2011, An enforcement notice was issued in March 2013 by which point a significant number of structures, fences, internal pathways, an area for car parking, and bunding had been constructed. The submission of a retrospective planning application followed, which was refused but allowed on appeal in February 2014.
Until recently the site was run successfully as Prospect Target Club Limited, generally without complaint and importantly in compliance with a number of planning conditions which understandably sought to mitigate any disturbance the site could, in the absence of which, give rise to.
The landowner wishes to preserve the consented and now well-established use, but has been approached for a number of alternative uses. One such use which is considered capable of working well alongside the already established use is mixed war games – with a specific interest in using the site for such expressed by Warrington-based Bomb Up Air Soft.
The owner of the company has significant experience in running Air Soft game sites, which is an increasingly popular leisure interest for many.
Having expressed an interest, the landowner agreed to allow use of the site for a number of such games on a trial basis, so both could understand how compatible the use could be. Within the midst of this trial, planning enforcement was however alerted who subsequently contacted the landowner and asked that he seek to regularise the use in the event there is a desire to continue it.
The proposal relates to allowing use of the site – in addition to ongoing clay pigeon shooting, rifle ranges and archery – for Air Soft war games.
Air Soft is now very popular in the UK, having originated in Japan in the early 1980s as a competitor for paintball. Air Soft has advanced over the last 40 years in terms of as a sport and with regards to the technologies involved.
These changes have allowed for much greater realism in play and in turn the game has been able to develop into a very immersive combat sport.
The sport itself sees players engage in simulated gun combat not too dissimilar to paintball, where teams of people group together into organised teams and shoot small BB projectiles at each other. Air Soft differs from paintball in that it is much more focused towards military simulation. Paintball guns very often don’t look like real guns whereas Air Soft guns are realistic
imitation firearms, modelled on genuine firearms and in many cases are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. The players will also, for the most part at least, be much more dedicated to dressing in realistic military gear including combat clothing, vests, helmets and caps in order to look more realistic.
Air Soft is a relatively cheap hobby to get involved in. The admission fee to a game day would be in the region of £30 with renting a replica gun and face protection costing in the region of £25-£30. Enough ammunition for a day’s play will typically cost £12-£15. Very effective replica guns can be bought for between £150 and £200 with some much keener players purchasing military
style clothing, gloves, webbing, more guns etc, as they get further into the sport. It is generally much cheaper to get involved in Air Soft than paintballing, mainly because of the increased cost of the ammunition and guns.
Critically, no new or amendments to the existing site infrastructure are proposed. This reflects that the existing site bunding and structures provide for an excellent game environment without the need to introduce any form of further structures whatsoever. The reality is that the site could be used for Air Soft purposes on one day and for clay pigeon shooting and the already
consented wider activities of archery and rifle shooting the next, without any obvious signs of a transition.
A key focus on noise was understandably critical in determining whether the already consented clay pigeon shooting club would have a detrimental impact on residential amenity in the locality. Material is that the noise from Air Soft guns is very minimal and significantly below that associated with clay pigeon shooting and rifles. When fired, the release of compressed air which fires the BBs make a very short, sharp and localised sound which would typically not be heard from 40 feet away. This is in stark contrast to the ongoing use of the site for the already consented and established shooting practices. Typically a shot gun used for clay pigeon shooting would generate a noise in the region of 150dBc at 1m from the gun, whereas the air soft guns typically generate a noise in the region of 50dBc at 1m from the gun. Beyond the guns themselves, participants do not make much noise during the course of the games, reflecting most if not all games are stealth based.
