A Fleet father with a passion for biking has defended his plan to set up motocross tracks on a field between Winchfield and Hartley Wintney.

Objections to the plans have been pouring in from nearby residents who worry that the two motocross tracks, prop-osed for Trimmers Farm, in Totters Lane, will be noisy and bring traffic congestion to the area.

But Mickey McLeod, of Old Pumphouse Close, Fleet, who is behind the plans, said the objections were frustrating.

He said: “People say they are for children, but they’re not.

“Children need somewhere to go. They need something to do, they need to be off the streets.”

He believes that three out of every ten children regularly roaming the streets own bikes which they are rarely permitted to use.

Giving them this track, he argues, would get them off the streets.

The father of three is a motocross enthusiast who has encouraged all his children to enjoy the sport.

Daughter Tamsin, 21, is a regular racer, while Dale, 13, and Taylor, 14, are too young to compete, but get on their bikes whenever they can.

Mr McLeod, 41, wants to build two graded tracks for children, which would both be fully supervised by marshals during opening hours from 11am to 6pm.

The beginners’ track would be a small loop, while the more advanced track would have more difficult features like jumps.

Portable toilets, canteen facilities and a first aid station are also planned.

Mr McLeod said he had received a lot of support from the legion of motocross enthusiasts in the area, but he hit out at residents and Winchfield Parish Council for trying to snuff out the plan.

Taxi driver Mr McLeod said people’s fears about noise were unfounded.

He said: “People are saying these are going to be roaring engines, with any cc, but that is not the case. These tracks are for kids.

“We know we can reduce the noise levels. The standard requirement is they expect a maximum decibel reading of about 95. I know we can halve that. We’re not dealing with big machines.”

He said the track being situated near the M3 motorway and a railway line meant that levels of noise would not rise above what was already there.

With the closest motocross tracks being near Alton, children with working mothers and fathers did not have very many opportunities to practise, he added.

Mr McLeod said it had led to a lot of children choosing to ride illegally on common land behind their parents’ backs, unsupervised behaviour which put lives at risk.

“Why should the children gamble with their lives for a bit of enjoyment?” he added.
 
More than a dozen objections poured into Hart District Council during the first week that the motocross planning application was submitted.

And Cllr Andrew Renshaw, the chairman of Winchfield Parish Council, said the council would be objecting to the plan. “We can see no merit in it whatsoever,” he added.

“It’s creating disturbance and pollution, not only to the residents near the site but also to those further away.”

He dismissed Mr McLeod’s assertion that the noise would be drowned out by the M3.

“It doesn’t work like that — it’s a different sort of noise and, besides, two wrongs don’t make a right,” Cllr Renshaw said.

An application from the Fleet Motor Club for the same site was turned down seven years ago.

Mr McLeod said, despite the opposition, he was not giving up. “Winchfield Parish Council wants to wake up, get out of the 1960s.

“The children are out there, dying to get out on their bikes; all they need is somewhere legal for them to go,” he added.

“The council might reject it but another application is on its way.”