Many of you will already be aware that RAF Brize Norton has a 25m Firing Range east of our village, about 1km across open fields to the east of Burford Rd. There is no sound barrier between us and the weapons fired on the range, and the noise travels freely during the weekdays and sometimes at weekends. Depending on where you are in the village the noise can be particularly intrusive in terms of the sheer amount – it can go on all day – and the loudness. Sometimes the noise arrives with a window-rattling loud ‘crack’, which is the shock-wave from a bullet breaking the sound barrier and going supersonic. It can sound as if we are in the middle of a gun battle!
Before the recent huge expansion of RAF Brize Norton the firing range was not really an issue for the village. However, there are now 5,800 active personnel who – we are told – all need training every year, so the use of the range has increased massively. In 2013, after a successful intervention by our noise committee, the RAF authorities gave assurances to our MP, and Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron that a full Environmental Impact Appraisal (EIA) would be conducted by the Base. This was to include such issues as Hercules engine ground run (testing) noise and ….gunfire from the firing range. Engine noise has largely been addressed, but nothing had been done to address the impact of the increased gunfire on the community. Until now…..!
In a particular week in April this year, the range was in use every day for a week and the noise was extremely loud, like nothing we had heard before. This marked the beginning of an extended, very loud, and intense period of noise. So much so that a lot of complaints were filed with the Base. The Base maintained initially that ‘nothing had changed’, but clearly something had changed. We have since worked with the Base to provide feedback on gunfire noise. They say they have taken measures to help reduce noise but currently the Base will not say what those measures are. However, the noise has reduced over recent months and the supersonic soundwave ‘cracks’ seem to have gone away.
We understand that the RAF needs to maintain its trained workforce; it’s how they go about it that is the issue. We would like to see the promised EIA undertaken for the firing range, but the Base seems reluctant to do this. We would also like to be assured that any improvements are not temporary. We should find out more at a zoom meeting of the RAF Brize Norton Local Consultation Working Group on the 5th December. I will keep you posted.
Richard Betteridge
BBENC (Black Bourton Environmental Noise Committee)