Race bosses vow to tackle noise upset

Bosses at a Staffordshire raceway have vowed to work closely with people living nearby to address concerns they have. Complaints have been made about noise levels at Hednesford Hills Raceway on race days.

Tests were done to find out if noise during races was officially a nuisance. After the trials in August and October last year, Cannock Chase District Council said levels recorded were not sufficient for action to be taken but were high enough to warrant further investigations.

Mark Bond, director of Incarace which runs the raceway, said: "We work closely with the council and local residents to ensure we have a good relationship with people who live locally.

"The raceway has had a good relationship with the local community, employing lots of people and bringing £3million into the area each year."

Steve Shilvock, the district council's head of environmental services, told Heath Hayes, Norton Canes & Rawnsley Community Forum this week that efforts were under way to arrange a further meeting with raceway bosses to discuss addressing the concerns.

Mr Shilvock said: "We have been attempting to set up a meeting with the raceway to agree a monitoring programme to address any noise nuisance issues.

"That's not yet been possible but a meeting has been agreed with officers, environmental health and the raceway to agree a programme of monitoring to identify what is causing some of the problems to date."

He added: "We think there's possibly a certain type of vehicle which is giving rise to this noise and we are looking to identify this."

Angry residents had previously compared noise from the raceway to that of a jumbo jet landing in their garden.

By Michelle Pearson