Winchester City Council is holding a vital planning meeting on Wednesday 21st March to decide the highly controversial Motocross application on Three Maids Hill.
The Planning and Development Control Committee will meet at 2pm at the Guildhall, and the Three Maids Motocross Action Group, led by Cllr Stephen Godfrey who represents the Wonston & Micheldever ward, has been busy in preparation.
Cllr Godfrey said: "We hope to have five speakers objecting to the plan and we have been trying to make sure that all our points are understood by the members of the committee, and we have also been distributing a leaflet to 800 homes in the affected villages to remind them of the meeting."
The application has been a source of huge concern for residents across a large area, from Littleton & Harestock to Kings Worthy, Worthy Down, South Wonston and even as far as Stoke Charity, due to the noise levels regular motocross events generate.
Local MP Steve Brine has been extremely supportive of the group, and Cllr Godfrey, who lives on Downs Road in South Wonston, and has spoken to dozens of worried residents over the past few years about the issue.
Steve said: "I have said time and again that the sport of motocross is not the issue here, and I am sure it provides a lot of fun for those who take part. But, put simply, the location for this could not be more inconvenient and actually downright miserable for hundreds of residents, and Stephen Godfrey has done an admirable job uniting the community over this."
The Group is standing on three principles. First, countryside development must respect the character of the local area. Second, noisy developments should not be permitted, and third, noisy sports should only be permitted where they are remote from existing housing.
South Wonston resident Colin Lowrey, of Green Close, said:"This is like having a mosquito in your ear and you don't know where it is going to land next. It is the whole uncertainty, the dreadful type of noise and the incessant duration, along with the fact this has been going on for years. I cannot stress enough how awful this is."
Cllr Godfrey continued: "Officers have recommended approval, which is driven entirely by the Planning Inspector's appeal decision. This decision was flawed as it was based on inadequate evidence on the level of noise suffered by local residents and totally ignored the significant problems caused to the internationally-renowned Littleton Stud by the dust coming from the motocross tracks.
"To allow motocross in a place so close to people's homes and large businesses like the Stud, is so clearly wrong, and the Council should put aside the risk of further challenge and use common sense. This is particularly so, now that a completely different decision was taken at an almost identical motocross site in Essex - where the Council did provide actual noise measurement!"
Pictured; Steve joins Cllr Stephen Godfrey, who has worked tirelessly for residents on the Motocross issue