A list of all the local objections and environmental concerns over a now-cancelled Herefordshire road rally has come to light.
Organisers of the annual Hills Ford Stages, previously centred on Ledbury, had hoped to once again run the event in Herefordshire this September.
But faced with months of delays in Herefordshire Council’s granting the necessary road closure and motor race orders, organisers Cheltenham Motor Club eventually said it was running out of time and in July pulled the plug on the event.
Now a Freedom of Information request to the council has yielded a list of some 26 issues raised by residents that had to be resolved before permission could be given.
They included concerns over a lack of information on the route, road closures, vehicle numbers and movements; over noise and “general disturbance”; lack of “welfare facilities” giving rise to “public health concerns”; damage to roads; and negative impact on local businesses.
There were also fears over restrictions to access at farms, “affecting animal welfare”; of “aggressive or copycat driving before and after the event”, disruption to the h-Art community art event during the same month; and an apparent failure to carry out an environmental impact assessment or to consider carbon offsetting.
The council officer responsible said at the time they had asked organisers to confirm how each of these had been addressed.
Further environmental issues came up during the council’s consultation with Wye Valley and Malvern Hills national landscape officials , over the event’s impact on local nature reserves and protected sites including the council-owned Broadmoor Common and nearby Haugh Wood, jointly managed by the National Trust and Forestry England, and on protected road verges.
The council also needed confirmation that all landowners along the route and at spectator points had given consent for use of their land.
And it wanted “a detailed list of all off-highway sites associated with the event to assess whether they fall within environmentally sensitive areas”.
Following the cancellation, event organisers announced in September that the rally would relocate a year hence to Shropshire, where the neighbouring council had been “hugely supportive”.
This will offer “more challenging stages, enhanced logistics, and expanded community programmes”, they added.
The event organisers were asked for comment.
Share