Tomorrow, Wednesday, sees the second of the days when the Renault F1 racing team test their high-performance cars on the runway at Duxford. When this was first proposed, late last year, it was generally welcomed as a bit of excitement for the locality, with people recognising that as the IWM at Duxford has to maximise its income, why not make use of the runway in this way.However, the first test day, earlier this month, has provoked a good deal of comment and some strong criticism, with people living even on the far side of Whittlesford, miles from the airfield and its runway, saying that the noise is intolerable: which can be heard from inside houses even with all the windows closed.People whose horses are kept in the village told me that the noise disorientated and unsettled them. Someone said that at least when the Spitfires are going over on air show days there is something to look at, whereas this pervading racing engine noise just goes on and on. I have a meeting with the director of the IWM next week, and based on the reaction of people to tomorrow's test run, I intend to raise this with him, including what this all means regarding noise as an environmental issue. (Click on words to go to Cambridge News article.)
As with the heavy tankers that are needed to empty the drains on display days, and who zoom along village roads, these are issues where the museum's neighbours need to work with it so that its activities cause the minimum disruption, recognising that the site is world-renowned and needs to have a diverse income stream to keep it going.
No comments:
Post a Comment