Lyneham dates to be cancelled?

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

MSE are still showing them as on, but this article suggests otherwise. 

[jonjh1964]

So the odd track day is disturbing the locals, unlike the 24/7 Hercules operations when it was an operational RAF base? It will be interesting if the Commandant has a say in this if the revenue is going to another budget.

[Mooch]

I passed this article on to Natasha at MSE and they weren't aware of this, which will be why future events are shown.  There's only been a couple of events and I'm not aware of local objections - Hullavington was a similar event that ran without incident, so I'm not sure what makes Lyneham different.  I've written to Gray, but he's a tw*t.  His latest constituency report reiterates his point:  

"I was very glad to be able to persuade Lyneham’s Colonel Ed Heal that the planned Motor Car events on the old runway at Lyneham were deeply unwelcome, and risked damaging the excellent relations the Defence Technical Training College have with local people. I am not sure he needed much persuasion, and they will not now happen. "

As a measure of the integrity of our local MP, he left his wife when she was diagnosed with cancer.   Nice man.  

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

The question remains, Mike, has the MP had his way or is the Colonel going to ignore him? I'm not sure whether I'll be partaking this year because my son, who is a keen participant and is a motivation for me to attend, is moving to Sydney (again!) next month. However, I am saddened to think that Ed and Natasha, who work hard for their business, may suffer for some ill-informed  

We must await Natasha's findings with bated breath.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Apparently MSE has now removed all dates for Lyneham and is refunding those who have booked for the dates previously listed. 

Only Abingdon remains on the calendar for airfield days... 

[Dommo]

Guess the MOD are so well funded they don't need the money!

[Nic Surry]

Hi what is Abingdon like other than flat. Is it a well supported event normally Would it be a good one for a newbie?

[Steven Thorne]

1 hour ago, Nic Surry said:

Hi what is Abingdon like other than flat. Is it a well supported event normally Would it be a good one for a newbie?

Always well supported and great for newbies. The team at Motorsport Events are very good.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I agree with Steve, it's very good.

[Nic Surry]

Thank you I will need to get my ass into gear and get booked in

[jonjh1964]

Just got the following email from MSE - please support.

Lyneham Cancelled – Great Shock and Disappointment

It is with huge sadness we have to report that for the foreseeable future events at MOD Lyneham have been cancelled. A huge amount of work had been put into securing this venue and a small minority of people have caused the closure. To say we are devastated is a huge understatement.

In brief we are hugely disappointed that the local MP James Gray became involved after complaints from a handful of vociferous locals and seems to have rail roaded the MOD into closing the venue and unbelievably his tone is one of celebration. Please see the points below:

• We adhered to all the restrictions placed on us, as you know these events are for like minded motoring enthusiasts in road cars, we think some people's opinion is these are race days.
• At no point are we aware of any noise monitoring in the local area to back up complaints.
• We would be able to modify the events to reduce noise if given the opportunity.
• We feel that James Gray the local MP has not considered the fact that many local people have welcomed the events, the income generation for the the site and local area and that we are a local business.
• Each event at Lyneham we provide places and driver training for military personnel and already the closure is causing great disappointment amongst active military staff.
• Please judge for yourself the tone of James Gray's press release http://www.jamesgray.org/index.php/latest-news/55-mp-cements-good-relations-with-mod-lyneham
• If we genuinely have a detrimental impact on residents lives by holding events we would be the first to act, however, we run for 5 hours and 45 minutes per track day and had permission for 9 of these at MOD Lyneham in 2018. Surely not the most huge of impacts with our road legal cars?
• Please also note that karting is allowed to continue at the site, when our road legal and road silenced cars are not.  

We are keen to fight this as hard as possible and need your support, the Lyneham Commanding Officer has given us a ray of hope and we need to act fast. Please email James Gray directly jamesgraymp@parliament.uk and copy us in to voice your opinion. 

We have just launched an online petition and we would welcome as many signatures as possible to show support. You can sign it here, please pass it far and wide.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

I shall be writing to the MP and signing the petition. Perhaps a WSCC response might be worthwhile too?

[jeff oakley]

I suggest we all do as other sites will be at risk if people see this as possible. What is really behind this is house prices. Lyneham was one of the biggest Airfields in the UK with night time flying and once the MOD moved the flight operations to Brize Norton the area became very quiet. 

It is being developed as a technical training school but no noisy things take place there now. So home prices started to rise as the area is a pleasant enough one to live in with no big housing planned on the site or anything to detract.

Then they hear cars roaring around and they fear this will be the thin end of a wedge and more activities will happen. MP's are easy to persuade if all they hear is bad things from constituants, how much they will take notice of none voters is questionable. 

This has happened elsewhere, Elvington, Hullavington, where the activities of a bunch of car enthusiasts were not considered to be worth keeping when there was a few complaints.

Slowly but surely we are becoming demonised for liking motoring events.

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Hullavington was closed completely for development. I haven't heard that Lyneham is closing at the moment. Your point about quietness is a good one, though. We need to try to placate the locals' fears. No MSE airfield day that I've been to was audible beyond the perimeter of the site - strict noise level limits are applied. Vehicles arriving and leaving could be a bone of contention though. Keevil was accessed through a village and the pre-event papers made strong requests for considerate behaviour on the way through.

I wondered about the practicality of using Chalgrove especially since Martin Baker has refused to give up the land they lease until 2063 for housing development. The airfield is still in existence currently.

[Terzo204]

I just signed the petition. Ed and Natasha are good people and this is a real shame.