A BID to run motorcycle and quadbike events on Exmoor moorland for 50 days a year has caused anger among neighbours, who have organised a ‘Save Our Silence’ campaign to stop it.

Ridian and Jasmine Wilford of Allercott Farm, Timberscombe, have applied to Exmoor National Park planners for a certificate of existing lawful use and development for land at Allercott Pitts to be used for up to 50 weekends a year for motorcycle events.

They claim the land has been a popular motorcycle scramble, trials and motocross track for over ten years and is already used for more than 28 days a year. But protesters say that only 14 days is allowed without a change of use being granted and there is no legal basis for a claim of 50 days a year.

The leafy tracks around the site are used for a variety of events involving motorcycles, quad-racing and mountain bikes. More than a dozen neighbours have responded to the national park’s request for comments on the application.

Making their application, Mr and Mrs Wilford told the planners: “From our own point of view, as a working Exmoor hill farm, this activity of farm diversification supports the running of our business and would be very sadly missed if it could no longer continue. Therefore in this application we are asking for lawful use of the track for 50 days a year.”

They added that there had been no material change of use of the land since the start of the use for which a certificate is sought.

Heading the ‘Save Our Silence – Keep Exmoor Quiet’ campaign, Robin Wight, who lives at nearby Throat Farm in Luxborough, claimed a successful application would dramatically increase the amount of ‘very noisy motocross activity’ and there was no evidence the land had been used more than 14 days a year for motor-sport.

Mr Wight, who has distributed protest posters around the area, added: “Fifty days of motor-coursing a year would be an absolute blot on the landscape and make it as though Throat Farm was positioned next to a motorway. We frequently hear the noise of motorbikes and this is an intrusion on the quiet enjoyment of our property.

“The existing motorsport activities, which we hear in the summer, are already noise pollution.”

For the full story see this week’s West Somerset Free Press.