"I have had two discussions with the environmental health officers at South Cambridgeshire District Council who have been monitoring the situation. They would be responsible for any enforcement action should that arise. I met with senior management representatives at the IWM on Thursday morning. I have a further meeting with Richard Ashton next Thursday.
Because of some miscommunication between the IWM and environmental services, there has not been any quantitative data collected by the District Council, though officers have visited the museum while the tests were carried out. The Museum itself has gathered such data on sound levels at various locations, and is discovering where there are noise tunnels – such as into Heathfield, and it is taking advice on how the mitigate the noise – such as by parking large vehicles to bounce the sound back.
South Cambridgeshire District Council will be monitoring the next racing day in June.
The factors that the environmental health officers will be taking into consideration in assessing the level of noise nuisance include duration, frequency, location: then they will decide whether any mitigation is needed, or, ultimately whether any statutory abatement is required - i.e applying the civil law of nuisance.
To date, the district council has received 15 complaints, while the IWM has had 32 – which is three times as many than the number of complaints received annually for aircraft.noise – although complaints levels have themselves come down considerably in recent years, from well over a hundred five years ago.
For those people opposed to the testing, the noise levels have been described as intolerable. A number of people made the point that while they accept the IWM’s flying schedule, the addition of race car testing is a new and different intrusion. For most but by no means all, the limit of activity to five days a year is a significant factor in whether this is in any way acceptable. The question that I put to the IWM on Thursday morning is whether the museum would entertain bids from other racing teams. Their response is that they will keep this at five days this season and then reassess, consulting with local communities in October at the end of the season. I also stressed that amelioration such as the intention to have a break during testing would demonstrate a willingness to try to reach an accommodation.
On the other hand there is clearly a great deal of support for the racing car testing locally, on the grounds that it brings prestige and excitement to the locality, and the recognition that the museum has to find new revenue streams. The proposed level of activity is generally deemed acceptable to this group.
In discussing this with the IWM, they recognise and apologise for their failure to communicate effectively with neighbouring villages. I urged them to consider how they were going to put this right, and I said that not attending at the parish council meeting next week to explain and to listen would not be well received.
My view, as a member of the parish council and as district councillor is:
· if the level of activity is kept to five days a year, and
· subject to IWM putting in place any mitigation recommendations made by the environmental services officers from South Cambs district council following their assessment of the June racing test day, and
· we see a genuine attempt by the IWM to resolve concerns and engage with local communities
then we should continue to work with the museum to manage this situation and we should assess again in October. We should resist any proposal to increase the number of days of testing.
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