Botolph Claydon. Photo: John S CC-BY-SA-2.0

A microlight enthusiast’s plans to fly from an airstrip crossing footpaths have been grounded.

Mark Fowler of Botolph Claydon in Buckinghamshire had appealed against refusal of retrospective planning consent to operate microlight flights from Bernwood Farm, where he is tenant.

The Open Spaces Society backed its member the Botolph Claydon Quiet Society in fighting the proposal which, it said would shatter the peace of walkers in a tranquil area, which includes the Bernwood Jubilee Way.

Rejecting the appeal, inspector John Felgate agreed with objectors, saying that that aircraft flights ‘would result in unacceptable danger to footpath users’.

Opponents said the two grass runway strips cut across two footpaths at right-angles, giving rise to what the inspector called ‘the potential for dangerous conflicts between aircraft and footpath users’. The danger is exacerbated by the geography, since the site straddles the crest of a pronounced ridge which limits the vision of both pilots and walkers.

Open Spaces Society general secretary Kate Ashbrook said: “We are relieved that this unpleasant application has been so roundly rejected.

“At last those who live in this beautiful part of Buckinghamshire, and those who walk here, can enjoy the area in peace and quiet, free from the danger and noise of the buzzing, droning aircraft.”