COUNCILLORS are being urged to pull the plug on plans for a youth motorcycle track on the outskirts of a village. Members of the Mid Beds MX Youth Project have campaigned to build the track on farmland half a mile from Langford. Langford Parish Council ha

COUNCILLORS are being urged to pull the plug on plans for a youth motorcycle track on the outskirts of a village.

Members of the Mid Beds MX Youth Project have campaigned to build the track on farmland half a mile from Langford.

Langford Parish Council has always been unanimous in its objection to the plan and at a recent public meeting villagers showed their anger by shouting at members of the MX committee when they tried to present their case.

Last week the MX planning application was finally unveiled by Mid Beds District Council with planning officer Jon Durbin recommending the application is refused when it is considered by councillors next month.

Mr Durbin said in his reasons for refusal: "The proposed use and associated development, by nature of its location within the countryside and inability to provide for screening and visual amelioration measures, would have significant detrimental impact on the visual appearance and rural character of the locality.

"The application has failed to demonstrate that the proposed use would not generate significant noise nuisance that would be detrimental to the rural character of the area and the amenities of nearby dwellings.

"The proposal is likely to generate an unacceptable increase in vehicular traffic using a narrow, single width access, with no ability to accommodate two-way traffic, to the detriment of the safety and convenience of users of the public footpath."

Mr Durbin adds in his report: "The proposal fails to provide any off-street parking within the application site. Overall this could lead to conditions prejudicial to safety on the adjoining highway.

"The proposal will result in the unacceptable loss of agricultural land for which no overriding justification has been made."

Cllr Tony Spencer, chairman of Langford Parish Council, said: "This is good news for the village.

"Everybody has been against this plan from the very beginning."

Ken Lynch, project co-ordinator of the MX Youth Project, said he was disappointed by the recommendation.

"This is a big blow to us but we will fight on.