North Yorkshire Council has approved plans to expand the Army Foundation College in Harrogate — despite concerns over guns being fired just 30 metres from homes.

The college provides the only basic training for junior soldiers in the British Army.

The Ministry of Defence applied for planning permission last year to convert a 35-hectare field on Oaker Bank in Killinghall into a training area for recruits.

According to planning documents, the field next to the college will be used for training exercises, including "fieldcraft, physical training, sports and skills, and blank-firing exercises".

The MoD said the plans would improve and expand the college's facilities and reduce the need to travel to off-site training locations.

They say:

“This will have considerable benefits from a sustainability perspective, reducing travel and associated pollution."

The MoD says all training exercises will be “undertaken within the natural landscape” on the field and no new buildings will be required.

Noise concerns

North Yorkshire Council has given the proposal the go-ahead, but it wasn’t welcomed by everyone.

Killinghall Parish Council said although it recognised the importance of adequate training facilities for recruits, councillors “fail to see any material consideration given to the wellbeing of existing neighbours”.

The parish council said the nearest homes on Oak Avenue would be just 30 metres from the site and raised concerns over both the location of where blanks would be fired and the noise impact.

The council’s environmental health department supported fieldcraft training and fitness sessions at the site, but said the noise of blanks being fired would lead to “unacceptable impacts”.

Thirty-five residents also objected to the plans, citing concerns over noise, the impact on agriculture and livestock, potential harm caused to wildlife and ecology and potential impacts on the landscape.

The MoD submitted a noise impact assessment, as well as additional information on noise mitigation in response to concerns.

It says the college already undertakes live blank-firing exercises on-site – within 1km of residential properties – and says such sessions at the expanded site would be limited to term-times only.

Blank-firing training will be restricted to between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, in summer. It would reduce further to between 8.30am and 4pm in winter.

No firing sessions would take place on weekends or public holidays, and the MoD says blank-firing would be short and infrequent.

Planning documents add:

Acoustic barriers

However, the council report says the MoD argued “no physical noise mitigation measures could be feasibly implemented as these military skills must be taught in natural, outdoor terrain”.

Any physical acoustic barriers would have a detrimental visual impact on the existing landscape, the report adds.

Approving the application, the council said the expanded facilities are essential to the recruits’ training objectives and “to meet strategic defence objectives”.

It adds the AFC provides “15-20% of the inflow into the British Army annually”, and the plans would have “significant national security benefits”.

The council believes the plans will reduce traffic and subsequent fuel emissions, create economic benefits and have a “neutral impact” on the surrounding landscape.

It notes the blank-firing exercises would have a “detrimental impact” on neighbouring properties, but adds the MoD has agreed to conditions limiting the times in which the sessions would take place.

The plans were approved subject to conditions.  

MoD response

The Stray Ferret contacted the MoD, which has been dogged by allegations of abuse and bullying in recent years, for more details on the plans, including how much the project will cost and what exactly will take place at the expanded site.

The MoD told the Stray Ferret it has purchased land abutting the college to conduct “low-level training activities”.

It also said:

The MoD did not disclose the amount spent on purchasing the land, but said it has “no plans to build or spend extra money” on it.

Securing the land means junior soldiers no longer need to travel off-site for exercises, the MoD said, which will save time and money, and reduce the army’s carbon footprint.