Car museum plans approved despite noise fears

Detailed plans for a new classic motorcar museum and housing development have been approved despite ongoing concerns about “intolerable” noise.

US collector Peter Mullin was granted outline planning permission in 2020 for a museum at Enstone Airfield near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.

Mr Mullin, who died last year aged 82, had wanted the attraction to be a “one-of-a-kind”.

But nearby residents objected over congestion and noise pollution worries.

The site is on former RAF airfield land which was previously occupied by Vision Motorsport and included a rally circuit and performance car motorsport circuit.

At the centre of the proposals is a building called The Crescent that will house the museum, a members’ club, members’ rooms, an events space, 16 apartments and 20 residences.

Peter Mullin – pictured in 2010 – owned the Mullin Automotive Museum in California

Mr Mullin – owner of the Mullin Automotive Museum in California – had said he wanted the development to combine the “spirit and history of the British people’s love for the motorcar with their passion for the beauty and presentation of the English countryside”.

The crescent building will contain bronze cladding and natural stone walling and its size and scale is described as “comparable to both Blenheim Palace and Houghton Hall [in Norfolk]”.

The first application, which would have led to 200 classic cars being housed at the museum, was withdrawn in September 2018 having received more than 180 objections.

Seventy objections were listed over reserved matters from the 2020 planning application.

One objector, Nicole Page Croft, said: “The noise from constant racing will be intolerable. We will no longer be able to sit in our gardens in the summer without the threat of constant car engine sounds.”

Robert Davy, from Swerford, added: “This development will completely change a rural area bringing noise pollution from a track used 312 days a year, light pollution, overcrowded roads, blocked roads on the 10 days of events – even more holiday homes and not homes for residents.”

West Oxfordshire District Council passed the reserved matters application which means the proposals have effectively been approved.

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