I've tried talking to our local planing in the past about a simple small extension on our house, they did't have a clue and said I'd need to fill in an application costing £250 to find out!
The range is not permanent as it is a few wooden posts and a plastic garden shed. If the general consensus on this forum is that it breaks planing, then I'll leave it there until the council is informed and I'm told to take it down. When that happens, I'm sure planing will tell me where I'm going wrong and adjustments will be made. If I'm told I can't have it in total, I'll disassemble it and list it on Crapbay, but they'll have to take me to court first.
If the police are informed and it's found I'm breaking the law, I guess the range will be removed. If that's the case, so be it. As I see it, the range is not permanent, does not cause a noise problem, is further than 50 foot from a public highway, is on my land, has a solid back stop, is fully concealed and should not cause any issues.
It's also worth remembering that the range is ONLY used for sub 6 foot pound 10m target shooting. I know that does not make a difference in law, but the noise will be vastly different from anything else.
If I am wrong on any of the above points, I will find out soon enough.
Last edited by MrChipShoulder; 02-10-2018 at 11:50 AM.
I've just rung the general police help line for Gwent, and they said it was nothing to do with the general police and I was passed over to the firearms department. I spoke with the lady on that line and she said the same and she is passing my info onto somebody that can better advise me within the firearms department. As far as Gwent Police is concerned, my range would be managed by the firearms department, nothing to do with general policing
You don’t need any permission from the police to shoot air guns in your garden, in fact if you have an open licence and enough space you’re free to shoot shotguns and proper rifles too.
I wouldn’t raise the issue though as if planning gets involved it could be a major ball ache
Just enjoy it quietly.
A man can always use more alcohol, tobacco and firearms.
I was going to just enjoy it quietly, that's why all the sound insulation is going in. But loads of people keep telling me I'm doing something wrong!
The council do not know anything, each time I ring their office, I just keep getting young girls (not sexist, they are actually young girls) saying "I don't know, you'll have to fill out an application at a cost of £250 to find out if you need planing or not"! I then ask if I get my money back if it turns out I didn't need to fill out a planing application at a cost of £250, and the answer is NO REFUNDS !!!
It's an absolute scam at the highest level. The planing has change recently in Wales and you no longer need planing for all sorts of things, including brick extensions, conservatories etc etc. But when you ask a simple question, the planing office never knows and you have to give them £250 to find out if you ever needed to spend £250 in the first place, again, planing is a scam !!
Just as an extra, I was told yesterday my local FAO was going to ring me yesterday or definitely today to talk about my range. As of now (3.10pm the next day) no call. So I assume they don't care, and why should they, I've done nothing wrong !!!
I'm just jumping through these hoops because I'm being told I'm in the wrong.
The ONLY thing in law that I MAY have an issue with is neighbours feeling intimidated and that is an issue as far as the law is concerned. Noise will not be a problem. I rang Steyr yesterday to ask about a silencer for my LP10, they said it can't be done, but very helpfully suggested putting a plexiy glass roof and side wall over the top of the whole range coming off the wooden fence. That was a great idea as it will fully enclose the whole range structure. I would then effectively be shooting inside/inside, if you know what I mean, AND nobody will see anything, even if trees are cut down etc.