Engine testing upsets residents

Engine testing upsets residents

Hercules are based at RAF Lyneham

Plans to test aircraft engines at an airfield in the Cotswolds have angered local residents living nearby.

SIGMA Aerospace wants to build and operate a mobile engine testing facility at Kemble airfield, near Cirencester, to test Hercules' propeller engines.

A petition of more than 60 signatures has been collected in an attempt to block the proposals.

In a statement to the BBC, Sigma said: "It is our intention ultimately to install the test stand at RAF Lyneham, where the RAF's Hercules fleet is based.

The testing should be confined to the area they have up in Scotland which is entirely enclosed in a brick building

Caroline Blanchard

"In January we applied for planning permission at Kemble for a period of six months.

"The application for testing here was made because we need to commission the stand, which is a new unit that has to be made ready for service.

"It is important to provide the RAF with a continuous testing service, particularly at this time of heightened military activity," it read.

But Barbara Lewsey, chairperson of the parish council in Long Newnton, says the plan could have a negative effect on house prices.

Testing times

"It will be very disruptive to the area - one of outstanding natural beauty."

Caroline Blanchard, a local resident, added: "We are absolutely furious about this.

"We have got together lots of opposition and we need to get it stopped.

"The testing should be confined to the area they have up in Scotland which is entirely enclosed in a brick building," she added.

Noise pollution

SIGMA says that if permission is granted, the testing would take place between Monday and Friday "... within normal working hours and not at all at night or weekends."

"Testing would not take place every day, nor would engines be run continuously," the statement read.

The proposals will be considered by the district council in June.

Their head of planning, Tony Jones, told News Online: "We take the objections very seriously and Environmental Health is looking at the issue of noise, in particular."