PLANNERS at Warrington have rejected a scheme to use part of a former airfield as a driving circuit.
Members of the borough council’s development control committee threw out the proposal put forward by Richard Coe of Appleton Autodrome
Ltd for the former Stretton Airfield site at Arley Road, Appleton Thorn.
They decided the development would cause serious harm to the living conditions of nearby residents because of vehicle noise.
Appleton Autodrome’s plan involved a driving academy and motor sports centre.
Part of the site is in the neighbouring area of Cheshire East and would have included a skid pan, conferencing and staging area, visitor parking, observation and re-fuelling points and conference building with management suite.
In Warrington, the former airfield runways would be used as a driving circuit with driver tuition areas.
It would be used by emergency services for skills and basic instruction, advanced driver tuition, performance driving and classic and vintage car driving.
Manufacturers could also use the area for testing and assessment of new vehicles, launch of new vehicle ranges and related products.
But there would be no organised competitive races or racing.
3 Comments
Poor decision. This was used for many years by Shell to test cars, so why they reach this decision doesn’t make sense. I used to live round there, and the houses are few and far between. It is already an area where heavy goods vehicles abound and the warehouses and businesses are gradually spreading. The noise from the adjoining motorway would probably make more noise.
Perhaps the wildlife lodged an objection.
Only one word for it – NIMBY’S! The site will continue to collect rubbish & burnt out kitchen appliances and be a haven for ne’er-do-well’s as a place to go and mess about. The amount of background noise from the M6 & M56 is fairly huge no matter where you are around the site and I can’t believe it would be any worse for having a handful more cars thrown in – if local residents wanted peace and quiet then try buying a house the doesn’t lie adjacent to the M56, M6 and an airfield!
Hi does anybody know who owns the airfield now.