THE possibility of a new mountain boarding site in Bude has caused concern among nearby residents, as heard at the recent Bude-Stratton planning committee meeting.

Town councillors on the planning committee and members of the public met at the Parkhouse Centre in Bude on Thursday, January 19, to discuss planning applications before consideration by Cornwall Council.

The main item on the agenda was to revisit the planning application to change the use of the land on Bagbury Road from agricultural to be used as a site for mountain boarding. Six members of the public attended the meeting to voice their concerns.

Chairman of the committee, Cllr Lee Bartrop, gave the public the opportunity to speak, so the councillors could consider local opinion.

One gentleman said: “In terms of localism, many issues that affect the people do not seem to concern planning policy, but I shan’t go into that.

“Mountain boarding has shown that it is likely and has historically given rise to injury. With other sports, such as climbing, there are normally ropes to hold on to in the event of a slip. However, once you set someone off on a mountain board, you are very much your own master.

“Historically, there have been a number of injuries from mountain boarding, and I’d like to make a point regarding the proposed site, that the field is much steeper with a shorter run-off period, meaning there is the potential for more injuries.”

The gentleman continued, explaining the residents’ concerns about the road to the site and access in the event of an emergency.

He said: “The road is not suitable by ingress of emergency vehicles as and when they are needed. The access is through private land, which is in ownership of the resident there, which they would allow if there was an emergency.”

He added that the applicant, who owns the site, has ‘paid no contribution’ to maintenance, such as drainage, to the road, and that if the council support the application, it is hoped that the land ‘is retained as agricultural land, and not have its status changed’.

Another member of the public raised concerns over health and safety. She said: “This is a private road, and once the path is used, it is then open to the public. I’m afraid we might have to put a gate up for it to remain private. There’s also no emergency access at all. The road is very much a single carriageway, with extremely tight access.

“This is commercial, with little benefit to residents in the area. Also, the proposals are something that will take place on, I’m guessing, a daily basis. Noise does travel along there; we can hear all sorts from the canal and the canoes and other places in the valley. We want to be able to enjoy the peace and quiet.

“With respect to the noise, we would like the old site to be compared with the new site, as the existing site is surrounded by fields, whereas this site has people’s homes all around. The snowboarding will also be happening on a continuous basis, and the site can’t help not look into our garden.”

The public were then able to listen to the committee discuss the application, with town mayor Cllr Lea Deely bringing up her main concerns.

She said: “Highways has not commented on this, and the main issue here is the emergency access to vehicles. I think highways must do a site visit; we can’t object or not until highways has done a site visit.

“I think we should also contact environmental health to bring up the noise. It will be a nuisance to neighbours, and without strong back up from environmental health and highways, they’ll say it’s nothing to do with you. We can only object on planning grounds.”

When looking at the site plans, Cllr Deely continued: “If they wanted access, they’d have to come directly off Bagbury Road.”

Cllr Bartrop said: “What the applicant is asking for here is to change the use of this land for mountain boarding. We need to look at the impact of this for everyone in the town, from people using the footpath to people just across the valley.”

He continued: “There are various parts of the valley that are used for leisure uses, such as the cycle way, the walk way and the canal. People use them, and they enjoy them, but some things have more of an impact on people than others. It’s about trying to strike a balance between all of the uses and the community.”

It was then said that the council would be more confident of the plans if the applicant had addressed the noise issues and impact on the surrounding area in a more robust way.

Cllr Bartrop added: “They’ve looked at Bude as a whole, and thought, ‘where can it grow?’ Bagbury seems to be at the top of the list.”

However, concerns were still high regarding access to the site. Cllr Deely said: “The fact that the only vehicle access is through private access is quite big for me.”

Cllr Gordon Wint reminded the committee that he had requested councillors to visit the site for themselves, but seemed disappointed that some had failed to do so, due to ‘other commitments’, he said: “If you go to the site, you can see that it overlooks a lot of community gardens. I can see why people would object to the application.”

Cllr Bartrop explained that Bude already has many community facilities for young people, such as a skate park. He said: “I do understand why people want to provide something else for the town, and I can see young people enjoying the activity. But I don’t think that just a few people should enjoy something, whilst others are made to suffer. It will be disruptive.”

The same gentleman amongst the public wished to reinforce his point.

He explained: “People like to play the moral card — kids can go there, they can work there, etcetera — I just think the mountain boarding should take place somewhere else, and the number of injuries does bring concern to me, as a grandparent.

“There is a lot of ambience in the area, and the council should protect the valuable agricultural land when there’s a need to do so — such as growing crops, and keeping sheep — that’s a point why it’s better kept as agricultural land.

“With the emergency access, there will be accidents — as it’s been proven historically — but it’s on private land, so there shouldn’t be the assumption that the private land is available.

“It’s a rushed through proposal.”

Cllr Bartrop then reassured the public that the committee, during the meeting, had taken into consideration the issues raised, and that they are also concerned about them.

He went on to address Cllr Deely, who has been working on developing the neighbourhood plan, stating that the decision whether the land is retained as agricultural or not is strategic, and should be considered in the neighbourhood plan. However, Cllr Deely reminded her colleague that the neighbourhood plan is nearly ready for adoption.

Before closing the meeting, another member of the public stated that schools in the area finish at approximately 3pm, and that the mountain boarding is proposed to continue until 6pm. He said: “On a sunny day, we want to spend as much time as possible in our garden without the noise from the site.”

To conclude, Cllr Bob Willingham briefed the committee’s reasons for objection on the basis that the application has overlooked environmental issues and the effect on the ambience on the neighbouring nature reserve area. He also mentioned the danger of the site overlooking surrounding properties, and for the access to be looked into for emergency vehicles.

The committee objected to the application on these grounds.

The final decision is expected to be made by Cornwall Council plans committee.