THE OWNER of a controversial clay pigeon shooting facility which was erected without planning consent has vowed to go all the way to the High Court to appeal against West Devon planners' decision to reject his application.

Tom Courtney, who spent £35,000 on the new addition to the Grange Equestrian Centre at Inwardleigh, has accused the borough council's planning committee of being influenced by a report submitted on behalf of opponents at the last minute.

The application for the change of use from agricultural land to a clay pigeon shooting facility was rejected by planners on the grounds of noise levels and disturbance to neighbours.

Nineteen letters of objection were received by the planning authority from residents concerned about the visual intrusion of the development and the detrimental effect repeated gunfire would have on the enjoyment of their own properties and wildlife in the area.

But the quality of the facility was highlighted by five people writing in support of the proposals as well as the lack of clay pigeon shooting sites in the area, the economic benefits and popularity of the sport. More than 500 people from across the country also put their name to a petition.

Surveys commissioned by the applicant indicated that noise levels at the four dwellings within one kilometre of the site were not likely to cause annoyance. The environmental health officer concurred with that —but it was disputed in a report put forward by the opponents.

Planning officers suggested that temporary consent be given to the facility for six months to allow its impact on the surrounding properties to be fully assessed. A wildlife survey concluded that the effect on wildlife was not such that the application should be turned down.

Speaking on behalf of the opponents, Sarah Holmes from Bond Pearce referred to a code of practice by the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association which said that no dwellings should be located within one kilometre of a shooting facility unless there were exceptional circumstances and it had the agreement of residents and the local authority — this was not the case here, she said.

She put forward an independent report into noise levels which revealed that every single shot measured in the second of two tests was between 60 and 71 decibels and anything over 60 was considered to cause annoyance.

Objector Mr G Burden told the meeting residents should not have to suffer six minutes let alone six months of this operation.

'My property is two fields away and when the tests were being carried out the shots could be heard inside the house,' he said.

Resident Paul Coles said his neighbours believed, as he did, that it was time they were serious about protecting their habitat and that of the wildlife found in places like Hookmoor Brook.

'The Countryside Agency in its recent report "Tomorrow's Countryside" states, "Wherever they live, people are concerned about the loss of rural tranquillity and the scale of new development" — if this committee approves the application then we will be grossly out of step with both public opinion and today's vital requirement for effective environmental protection,' he said.

Ward member for Inwardleigh, Cllr Sonia Lindsay, said she was excited by the idea of Olympic medals being won for shooting by someone training in Inwardleigh but she was also concerned that nearby residents would have their peace 'cut up'.

Cllr John Hockridge told the meeting he had seen two other retrospective applications for clay pigeon shooting facilities turned down by the committee in the past because the peace and quiet experienced by people living in the area had been destroyed.

But Mr Courtney said because of the crisis in the farming industry he had been pressured into diversifying and he was moving forward into a sport that was in great demand.

'There is no other clay pigeon shooting of this standard within 200 miles and there are over 1,000 people willing to use this facility.'

Speaking on the wildlife issue, he said there was only one endangered species in the area and that was the farmer.

'The only way forward for anyone is to diversify,' he said.

After the meeting the applicant said he would fight all the way to get permission to run the facility which would provide 15 new jobs in Inwardleigh.

'We will appeal at the first opportunity and go to the High Court if we have to,' he said.

'The noise report was submitted by the opponents on the day of the meeting without giving us any chance to comment on it,' he said. 'I believe this resulted in a biased committee meeting and I will be making this point at a future appeal.'