Motocross park forced to close after noise order
Thursday, 28 August 2008
The Kirk Road motorcross park in use, now forced to close by a council noise abatement notice.
THE Motocross park at 62 Kirk Road that hosts the Super Cross event during North West week that can attract up to 2000 people has been forced to close after a Noise Abatement Notice (NAN) was issued by Ballymoney Borough Council several weeks ago.
Concerned users held a meeting at the park on Tuesday August 19 where they agreed to comply with the notice. The park will not be used and it is hoped that a positive way forward can be found. Supporters of the circuit say that motocross generates camaraderie and mutual respect, keeps young people occupied and is a great family day out. They are hoping that this is just a temporary measure.
Ms Shirley Jackson, whose son Bradley is a frequent user of the track, was nominated to establish contact with council officers to try and work out the next move. She said, "We as a group have agreed to comply with the council order and will put the word out to all members until I get in contact with the council to find out from them what we need to do." She has already written to the Sports Council.
“We need to work with the council to see if the noise testing we have done and that which they have done is different. We don't have all the information, we need to have all the information."
The site on Kirk Road was refused planning permission on 22 November 2007 that would have allowed a change of use for the land from agricultural use to a motocross circuit. "The planning issue is a separate issue, the application has gone back to appeal." says Ms Jackson.
The Deputy Director of Borough Services with Ballymoney Borough Council, Mr Bryan Edgar confirmed that a Noise Abatement Notice had been issued. He said, "We received a complaint from a local resident and there also a planning application, both those in tandem brought our attention to the Motocross circuit. We tried to work with the applicant through the planning process but when that was exhausted we had to make a determination about nuisance."
An Environmental Health officer from the council measured background noise levels at the site when there was no Motocross activity, then again when bikes were present. According to British standards if the difference between the background noise and the noise of the activity is greater than 10 decibels then complaints are likely. According to Mr Edgar this was found to be the case at the motocross park. Other factors such as frequency, time of day and type of noise are considered. Mr Edgar continued "Once a determination is made that there is a nuisance we have a statutory duty under the Pollution Control Order to issue a notice."
