PLANS for a clay pigeon shooting facility at Inwardleigh have been turned down by West Devon planners for a fourth time.
West Devon Borough Council's planning committee decided that, despite changes, the application for a change of use from equestrian land to a laser gun facility at the Grange Equestrian Centre would still cause an intrusion into the countryside.
An appeal was lodged by owner Tom Courtney against an enforcement notice issued by the council in May last year to remove the already constructed shooting area, but this was lost.
Members were told the latest proposal differed from previous ones in as much as all the equipment to be used for the laser and air gun shooting would be portable, including the trap for firing clays and would only be installed while shooting was taking place.
Also, the wooden traps and shooting stands, which had previously been erected on the site, had now been removed and the concrete area would be grassed over.
Agent for the applicant Peter Rowan said he considered the appeal decision was perverse given the council's decisions in recent times to allow a large building at the Grange for equestrian use and an extension to a nearby golf course at Ashbury.
He said there had been considerable effort on his client's part to make changes following the inspector's report.
The committee was informed the applicant had the choice of appealing to the High Court against the planning inspector's decision if he felt it was perverse.
Chairman of the planning committee Roger Mathew said the council was entitled to take a different view than previously because it was a different application, but it would struggle with consistency.
'This site is in the open countryside and we do not want anything that alters the contours of the land,' he said.
'The officers have come up with a recommendation to refuse this and I find it a little difficult to see how we could respond to this.'
After the decision Mr Courtney said the council claimed it supported and encouraged inward investment in tourism and recreation, but it was not in this case despite the 'great lengths' he had gone to improve this site.
'They have just stopped one thousand people coming to use this facility which would result in an economic boost for this area's tourism industry,' he said.