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Two escape plane emergency

1:37pm Friday 4th July 2008

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By South Wales Argus Newsdesk »

TWO passengers escaped from a plane after it made an emergency landing near Newport today.

Fire crews were called after the light aircraft came down at Whitson airfield at around 11.40 this morning.

The two people inside the aircraft are not believed to be seriously injured and were seen by paramedics.

There is likely to be congestion in the area and people are advised to avoid the area if they can.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch have been informed and are investigating.

LET us know if you saw the incident or if you have pictures.

Send them through the link below, or via mobile on 80360 with the message ARGUS NEWS.

Alternatively, to speak to a reporter, call newsdesk on 01633 777226.


Your Say YourGwent

grncourt, Redwick says...
5:41pm Fri 4 Jul 08

When are Newport City Council going to do something about this airfield. It only has planning permission for a grass strip for use by family and friends. Mr Bowen has seen fit to lay tons of concrete on a triple SSI without planning permission and Newport City Council, to date have not issued an enforement notice. They did issue one but due to errors on their part it had to be withdrawn. They are now spending thousands of pounds of council tax payers money obtaining Counsel's advice, noise assessments and for what? There is something very wrong here. How many more accidents are there going to be before something is done.

jordie, cwmbran says...
6:32pm Fri 4 Jul 08

grncourtu u sound very envious why not get on with ur own life

mark, newport says...
6:41pm Fri 4 Jul 08

I agree this airstrip should be closed down this is the second plane crash due to this airstrip being here why dont newport planning do the job that we all pay them to do and stop this man takeing the pi.. out of them and all the local people i hope the farmers and other people who have lost money today sue mr bowen for the loss and show him he cant do whatever he wants with no regard for planning rules and local people

walter, newbridge says...
9:58pm Fri 4 Jul 08

If it made an emergency landing then it is a good job the airstrip is where it is. If not then it could have crashed anywhere in the area, and lives could have been lost.

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
1:07am Sat 5 Jul 08

How selfish can you get !! This was an accident that had a good outcome and grncourt 'whoever that is' should be pleased for the survivors. Accidents happen - Whitsun has no devine right that no accidents will take place near it - this plane could have come down anywhere. I presume that if there is an accident on the roads near Whitsun then grncourt will want all the roads around it closed, and if there's a farming accident then all farming should be stopped! someone should stop grncourt before he/she puts Whitsun into the stone age!!!

grncourt, Redwick says...
8:23am Sat 5 Jul 08

Jordie of Cwmbran your comment that I am in someway envious of something just doesn't make sense nor does it relate to my comments about the airfield.

walter, newbridge - the whole point is, it didn't land on the airstrip it overshot and landed in a field just missing a stables and the village hall. It had taken off from Whitson airstrip that is not supposed to have a concrete runway and should only be used by family and friends (but let me guess these two gentlemen were family and friends)

Mr Laskey of Risca a regular user and supporter of Whitson airfield your comments do not make any sense. What has selfishness got to do with anything. Of course I am pleased that no one was hurt either in the plane or the village. However, if this airfield complied with its planning permission this accident would not have happened and neither would the fatal accident last year. As you are aware, this airfield does not have planning permission to have a concrete runaway and is supposed to be used by family and friends only. As you are also aware, this is not the case and Mr Bowen as someone has already commented, is taking the pi.. out of Newport City Council. As to the rest of your rant,I will put that down to where it comes from.

clart, over by ear says...
8:55am Sat 5 Jul 08

@grncourt, you need to get a life m8, and pull ya finger out,its a good job it was in the country and not some heavily built up area :))

bob1, by ere! says...
9:34am Sat 5 Jul 08

Do people not realise that if Mr Bowen had taken notice of the conditions of his planning application for his so called 'Airstrip' then this accident wouldn't of happened in the first place. It is quite clear that his actions are putting lives at risk. Don't get me wrong I am pleased that on this occasion no-one was hurt (unlike 12 months ago!), however all those that support this man just think how you would like to live with the prospect of this happening on your doorstep!

grncourt, Redwick says...
9:44am Sat 5 Jul 08

clart, over by ear on

The first part of your comment has nothing to do with this issue and personal comments don't help anything. I agree thank goodness it didn't happen in a built up area but the whole point is it shouldn't have happened at all.

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
10:15am Sat 5 Jul 08

grncourt (why don't you use your name)-you are completely wrong in your statements which I can only presume are made from predjudice. How can you sate that "if this airfield complied with its planning permission this accident would not have happened and neither would the fatal accident last year" - the airfield has planning permission for an airstrip and that means that aircraft can fly from there,concrete or no concrete - you know this, and you also know that your comments are deliberately missleading. And yes, I am a good friend of Mr Bowen, as were the lucky flyers of yesterday.

bob1, by ere! says...
10:35am Sat 5 Jul 08

If the council has any common sence now they will ensure that Mr 'law unto himself' Bowen will have to remove any type of runway concrete, grass or whatever else he thinks he can use. I am both a friend of the lady that was in the stables next to where the plane landed and my parents live just a few 100 yards away and were driving past the scene yesterday as the plane exploded, any of these innocent people could easily have been killed. It is only a matter of time before someone is killed (outside of the pilot and passenger) the local residents have had to live under the flight path of these planes for long enough. Lets hope that there will be some type of compensation for those with property damaged and for the farmers that had to spend yesterday sat doing nothing as there were unable to continue their work in the area.

grncourt, Redwick says...
10:42am Sat 5 Jul 08

Mr Laskey you know as well as I do that this airfield is not complying with its planning permission. If it is why has Mr Bowen employed an aviation expert? The planning permission is for a grass strip to be used by family and friends. It appears that Mr Bowen has acquired a large number of family and friends since he laid the several tons of concrete on this SSI. However, as you acknowledge you are a good friend of Mr Bowen and as such I would not expect you to be objective. I can quite easily sate(sic) that the accidents would not have happened if the concrete had not been laid, as neither of these planes would have taken off from a grass stip. Although I am sure you will disagree with this. We can argue points forever but the truth of the matter is Mr Bowen is not complying with his planning permission or is this a misleading comment?

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
11:11am Sat 5 Jul 08

Mr G R N Court - you continuance to misslead ! I can only assume you are doing this from a lack of knowledge of the facts. You state that "neither of these planes would have taken off from a grass stip" I dont know where you got this from but both the aircraft have STOL performanceand are completely capable of using a 650 mtr grass strip. You state that Mr Bowen is not complying with his planning permission - easy to say - but what aspect of his permission is he not complying with ? You are wrong on several matters could it be that you are wrong on this also?

mark, newport says...
11:51am Sat 5 Jul 08

hi grncourt the only people who make comments on here saying that the airstrip should stay are people who take off and land there or friends of them and thay all know that it has not got planning but thay dont mind that as long as thay can do what thay want with no regard for local people mr laskey you know that only a plane that is mr bowens should be useing this strip not yours or anyone else he has no planning for the concrete,no planning for extra buildings to hire out to you or anyone else to use he has no planning for other planes to land on the grass strip either so when the concrete, runway is removed you still wont be able to use it without breaking the planning rules this second crash has proved you are a danger to yourselfs and other people and you should go and use an airstip that has the correct planning and proper safty in place i hope the police and other services bill mr bowen for all the costs of both of these accidents and local people sue him for there loss

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
12:29pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Mark - I sugest that you talk to Mr GRN Court - you are wrong on just about every count in your posting. You really should get your facts right before comenting - emotional rantings are no help at all to the issue.

Steve Symes, Newport says...
12:40pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Does anyone know the names of the 2 people that had a lucky escape?

mark, newport says...
1:27pm Sat 5 Jul 08

all the facts are at newport planning office go and read the file i have and and i stand by everything i have said it is very lucky that no one was killed this time it could happen again and maybe people wont be so lucky next time

grncourt, Redwick says...
1:34pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Mr Laskey as you allege that everyone contributing to this debate (other than you!) has their facts wrong, perhaps you would answer my question namely is Mr Bowen complying with the planning permission currently in place i.e. "a grass strip for use by Mr Bowen's family and friends only".

Mike Birchall, Cardiff says...
3:30pm Sat 5 Jul 08

This accident had nothing to do with planning issues - the aircraft could have taken off from a grass runway which Ken Bowen DOES have planning permission for so continuing debate on that aspect is pointless.

The main point is nobody was hurt. The last plane crash in the UK in which an innocent bystander was killed was Lockerbie. That aircraft took off from Heathrow nobody suggested that airfield should be closed as a result of that accident.

alexander, newport says...
4:14pm Sat 5 Jul 08

When you consider that taking off and landing are the most dangerous parts of flying, they should not be doing this so close to homes. THAT is the point. It is a badly sighted airfield in close proximity to electical pylons and houses. THAT Mr Lacey is a fact.

Simon, Newport says...
4:25pm Sat 5 Jul 08

The fact is this aircraft could have taken off from cardiff and be bound for bristol and have crash landed anywhere...

Yes an airfield/strip will be a nexus for crash landings because pilots aim for them when in trouble rather than trying to crash land somewhere random, as each airfield operates an emergency procedure...

The fact that people are trying to correlate this accident with the current dispute regarding the planning permission for the concrete strip is utterly despicable. The air strip has planning permission to use grass strips, so therefore the accident could have occurred. The concrete strip was created to REDUCE the likelihood of out of control landings and missed approaches...

Mr Bowen is within the law, as the retrospective application is under adjudication by a higher authority, given that UK law favours the defendant until they are found against, the strip is legally usable until the appeal is heard...

mark, newport says...
4:42pm Sat 5 Jul 08

no Mike Birchall the point is there is not planning for these people to take off and land even if its a grass strip if mr bowen had kept to his planning and not allowed all the other people to pay to use this strip he would not have any of the problems he has got and would be able to use it HIMSELF whenever he wanted

mark, newport says...
4:55pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Simon wrote:
The fact is this aircraft could have taken off from cardiff and be bound for bristol and have crash landed anywhere... Yes an airfield/strip will be a nexus for crash landings because pilots aim for them when in trouble rather than trying to crash land somewhere random, as each airfield operates an emergency procedure... The fact that people are trying to correlate this accident with the current dispute regarding the planning permission for the concrete strip is utterly despicable. The air strip has planning permission to use grass strips, so therefore the accident could have occurred. The concrete strip was created to REDUCE the likelihood of out of control landings and missed approaches... Mr Bowen is within the law, as the retrospective application is under adjudication by a higher authority, given that UK law favours the defendant until they are found against, the strip is legally usable until the appeal is heard...
Yes an airfield/strip will be a nexus for crash landings because pilots aim for them when in trouble rather than trying to crash land somewhere random, as each airfield operates an emergency procedure... i think this says it all we can expect more problems due to it being here its on an ssi site and near to houses mr bowen new he was not allowed to build the runway from concrete and that he was not allowed to have anyone paying him to use it or to build more buildings and the fact that he put an advert in the media saying that people could use it proves he has not complied with any of his planning

marguerite, newport says...
5:36pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Mr Bowen has been running his airfield in direct contravention of planning laws. By his actions he is jeapordising innocent peoples lives and homes. It was pure luck that the plane yesterday, came down where it did and no-one was injured. The next time, and there will be a next time, people may not be so lucky!

Its well past time the council got off its bottom and did something to protect the public. Questions should be asked about why they are dragging their feet!
I would recommend the council look at the accident record and do something before they have to trot out the old mantra about lessons have been learned - never happen again - etc etc.

If Mr Bowen wants to run an airfield for commercial use he should put it in an appropriate place. Not near peoples homes.

grncourt, Redwick says...
5:41pm Sat 5 Jul 08

I suppose we must forgive Mr Bowen's friends their comments as it is obvious from the above statements that they don't know the true situation at Whiston. Their only concern is that they have found a cheap way to store their aircrafts and take off and land at a reduced rate. Caridff is obviously too expensive for them. It is also clear that they couldn't give a jot for the SSSI or the upset that they cause to the local villagers. I do hope the two gentleman have recovered from what must have been a terrifying ordeal. However I also hope that the Newport City Council close this unlicenced airfield and on that note I am closing.

cliffy, newport says...
6:13pm Sat 5 Jul 08

pilots flying in and out of mr bowens airstrip are very skilled pilots who have undertaken a lot of training to achieve there skills.
the pilot of the said aircraft chose to force land at a suitable site preventing injury to himself, passenger and public.
this is down to the proffessional training that comes with obtaining a pilots liscence.
judging by the accident reports on the country roads and the speed offences in the same area maybe we should close the roads as well.

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
7:47pm Sat 5 Jul 08

ONCE AND FOR ALL - MR BOWEN DOES HAVE A CURRENT PLANNING CONSENT FOR A LANDING STRIP AT UPFIELD FARM - THIS IS A FACT AND IS INDISPUTABLE - IT IS ALSO FACT THAT THERE ARE NO ENFORCEMENT NOTICES RESTRICTING THE USE OF THE LANDING STRIP. Anyone that thinks otherwise has been missled or are deluding themselves. However, Mr Birchall is right, the accident yesterday had nothing to do with with planning issues - it was an accident ! the definition of which is "an unplanned random event that had undesirable consequences".

MikeStephens, Newport says...
9:04pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Lots of comments about the aircraft landing near a stables, I wonder would anyone make comments if a horse had escaped from a field without planning consent for horses and ran a pedestrian over?
Who would make a fuss, no one? An airfield in Newport surely is an asset to the town? In my experience the anti aviation lobby who shout and make comments without fully understanding what they rant on about, should perhaps stay within their domains,stick to soap operas and whatever else they do in their mundane lives, if these sorts of people had been in control in the thirties we'd probably all be German now. Pilots don't be put off by these few narrow minded lemmings, some of us look into the sky and watch you fly with awe and respect !!! Well done Ken Bowen for bringing aviation to Newport,we could do with a few more like you could help make Britain great again.

marguerite, newport says...
9:57pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Mike Stevens: is your family and home threatened by low flying noisy dirty aircraft flown by inept pilots? This is not the first incident with connection to Upfield farm! Maybe if the place were on your doorstep and threatening your family you would be voiciferous in your condemnation of it.

MikeStephens, Brynmawr says...
10:45pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Marguerite, the only thing you should be afraid of is fear caused by ignorance. If you understood modern general aviation and pilot licensing you would realise that your fear is based on a lack of understanding. Be more concerned about the real issues like road traffic affecting local kids like lorries and speeding cars. Isn't it a bit crazy all today's children are locked in gardens and homes because its not safe to out on the road, do any of you complain about this, No, your more concerned with destroying something that you don't understand. Go down to Cardiff Airport book yourself on a trial lesson in a light aircraft and then come back and tell us if you still feel hell bent on taking away another persons freedom.

MikeStephens, Newport says...
10:45pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Marguerite, the only thing you should be afraid of is fear caused by ignorance. If you understood modern general aviation and pilot licensing you would realise that your fear is based on a lack of understanding. Be more concerned about the real issues like road traffic affecting local kids like lorries and speeding cars. Isn't it a bit crazy all today's children are locked in gardens and homes because its not safe to out on the road, do any of you complain about this, No, your more concerned with destroying something that you don't understand. Go down to Cardiff Airport book yourself on a trial lesson in a light aircraft and then come back and tell us if you still feel hell bent on taking away another persons freedom.

marguerite, newport says...
8:55am Sun 6 Jul 08

Mike stephens What about the freedoms of the people who live in the close vicinity of the airfield to enjoy their homes and family without the fear of an accident caused by some learner pilot, human error or aircraft failure. As I say, this is not the first incident concerning Upfield, and BTW you didn't say where you live!

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
9:14am Sun 6 Jul 08

Marguerite - you cannot live your life wrapped in cotton wool - and expect everyone else to do the same - accidents can and do happen - statistically you are at a far greater risk from many other hazards than aircraft - I bet you have electricity in your home and gas or oil heating and you probably use a car on the roads - you should be aware that the risks you face from just these three hazards is thousands of times greater than an aircraft falling on you.

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
9:45am Sun 6 Jul 08

Marguerite - I need to correct you on one point in your last post - you are not at risk from a learner pilot flying from Upfield Farm - no pilot training is undertaken from there, and all aircraft are flown by fully qualified pilots.

collie, newport says...
11:11am Sun 6 Jul 08

i live near to this airstrip but i have no connection at all with mr bowen or flying (scares the hell out of me ). i have been approached to sign a petition, and found myself being forced fed so to speak into complying. it seams that there are a few more mature part of the community that are dead set on closeing down this airstrip. the impression i got was that the vendetta was towards mr bowen himself rather than the activities occuring ( very strange )any way the point is that i think its time that we do move on and leave these guys alone and stop argueing over what ifs and what will senarios our community is divided enough. and true we have had a road accident that cost us our postman if i recall, and the community did nothing, but accidents do occur every minute of the day.

marguerite, newport says...
11:14am Sun 6 Jul 08

Colin Laskey I notice you are from Risca - some distance from the airfield. I presume your interest derives from your use of it-convenient without being detrimental. Understandibly you want nothing to change as it suits your selfish purpose.

I don't live my life wrapped in cotton wool and your talk of statistics don't hold water. If an airfield is sited in the vicinity of residential homes the risk to those homes goes up substantially. especially when you consider what happened yesterday and- correct me on this - late last year when two people died in a plane that crashed in the near locality. Put those statistics against National average and see what you come up with!

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
1:26pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Continuing to debate the what if's and what could have happened is fruitless - we are at risk every day from every day activities. As a closing comment - I Quote from Inspector Dan Taylor of Gwent Police "The bottom line is, two men have walked away from this and no member of the public was injured".

Mike Birchall, Cardiff says...
1:45pm Sun 6 Jul 08

We live on a crowded Island, just about all airfields in the UK are surrounded by houses, including the country's busiest (Heathrow). I can understand your concerns regarding aviation- they are pretty much shared by most of the population who dont understand light aviation. But please be assured, those concerns are misplaced. Why not come down to the airfield one day, have a chat to the pilots, and perhaps come up for a short flight so hopefully you could understand the strong safety culture that exists within the flying community?

PS, to answer an earlier post, the pilots in the incident were friends of Ken Bowen, and thus the flight fell wholly within existing planning consent.


alexander, newport says...
3:07pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Not quite wholly as he has not got permission for a concrete runway. By having a concrete runway he is gaining more flights during winter time or in wet weather conditions that would not have taken place otherwise. Admittedly this aspect has nothing to do with the accident last Friday. In answer to an earlier post I should like to add that as a local resident I was in no way whatsoever badgered by any individual to sign any petition. It is not just the "mature" part of the community that are fighting against this monstrosity. I am a home owner in the area, under 35 and agree whole heartedly with the decision to get him stopped. I have not been press ganged into anything, I simply feel I am protecting the area I live in (including my family). There has also been intimidation against local residents who oppose the airstrip (mentioning no names). You mention there are no learner pilots using the airstrip. Actually, there is proof of flight lessons being advertised on the web and taking off from Upfield Farm. Does it seem fair that so many local people have to suffer for the minority of people who use the airstrip but do not live in the area and therefore are not affected by overhead flights? This argument will go on forever because the arrogance of certain individuals who think they have the god given right to decide what happens in a village they are not even related to.

collie, newport says...
4:34pm Sun 6 Jul 08

i like to state that comments made by alexander are not a representation of our village these comments are of disrespect for all concerned and are fueled by an obviuos vendetta between mr bowen and alexander.
please except my apologies to all concerned.

cliffy, newport says...
4:47pm Sun 6 Jul 08

alexander you quoted-"there is proof of flight lessons being advertised on the web and taking off from Upfield Farm".
this would be a violation of the rules can u forward web address so it can be reported

alexander, newport says...
4:53pm Sun 6 Jul 08

In response to Collie, I would just like to say before I close that my comments are NOT personal. If you'd read my comments properly you'd realise that. I have no vendetta against anybody (including Mr Bowen), I just oppose the air strip for obvious reasons. That is all.

alexander, newport says...
4:54pm Sun 6 Jul 08

In response to Collie, I would just like to say before I close that my comments are NOT personal. If you'd read my comments properly you'd realise that. I have no vendetta against anybody (including Mr Bowen), I just oppose the air strip for obvious reasons. That is all.

cliffy, newport says...
5:39pm Sun 6 Jul 08

alexander wrote:
In response to Collie, I would just like to say before I close that my comments are NOT personal. If you'd read my comments properly you'd realise that. I have no vendetta against anybody (including Mr Bowen), I just oppose the air strip for obvious reasons. That is all.
so where is the web site youve seen advertising flying lessons at upfield farm please 4ward web site address to verify these details ???????

cliffy, newport says...
6:15pm Sun 6 Jul 08

alexander wrote:
Not quite wholly as he has not got permission for a concrete runway. By having a concrete runway he is gaining more flights during winter time or in wet weather conditions that would not have taken place otherwise. Admittedly this aspect has nothing to do with the accident last Friday. In answer to an earlier post I should like to add that as a local resident I was in no way whatsoever badgered by any individual to sign any petition. It is not just the "mature" part of the community that are fighting against this monstrosity. I am a home owner in the area, under 35 and agree whole heartedly with the decision to get him stopped. I have not been press ganged into anything, I simply feel I am protecting the area I live in (including my family). There has also been intimidation against local residents who oppose the airstrip (mentioning no names). You mention there are no learner pilots using the airstrip. Actually, there is proof of flight lessons being advertised on the web and taking off from Upfield Farm. Does it seem fair that so many local people have to suffer for the minority of people who use the airstrip but do not live in the area and therefore are not affected by overhead flights? This argument will go on forever because the arrogance of certain individuals who think they have the god given right to decide what happens in a village they are not even related to.
ive just done a search on the internet on probably every search engine i could find and guess what no flying lessons advertised at
upfield i suppose one will suddenly show up.

alexander, newport says...
6:33pm Sun 6 Jul 08

In response to Cliffy, flying lessons were found to be advertised on the web from Upfield Farm at the start of Mr Bowen's planning application. Since then, (surprisingly) a lot of websites relating to Upfield Farm have been removed. I wonder why??!!!

alexander, newport says...
6:35pm Sun 6 Jul 08

In response to Cliffy, flying lessons were found to be advertised on the web from Upfield Farm at the start of Mr Bowen's planning application. Since then, (surprisingly) a lot of websites relating to Upfield Farm have been removed. I wonder why??!!!

Kim Davies, rogerstone says...
6:47pm Sun 6 Jul 08

I have read all the responses to this accident, and it was a accident What a shame we live in a country filled with hopeless petty people.
Mr Bowen obviously seems to have rubbed people up the wrong way, which was evident at one of the local meetings concerning the airfield, but the people who are against it seem to insuate that the airfield is used commercially which is not the case. Most of these aircraft fly when the weather is favourable, has any of you looked outside lately. For a airfield that is not used that regularly I think you should be grateful you are not living near Bristol, or Cardiff, but we are under the flight path???.
Those very good pilots walked a way uninjured, due to great piloting.
People who are against this airfield, don't you think you could put your energies into campaigning against the knife crime in this country. You would be more justified in your argument and we will all support you.

cliffy, newport says...
6:52pm Sun 6 Jul 08

alexander wrote:
In response to Cliffy, flying lessons were found to be advertised on the web from Upfield Farm at the start of Mr Bowen's planning application. Since then, (surprisingly) a lot of websites relating to Upfield Farm have been removed. I wonder why??!!!
you quoted
"Actually, there is proof of flight lessons being advertised on the web and taking off from Upfield Farm"
im afraid youve been stumped by your own quotes youve obviuosly have issues with mr bowen but this issue will not help if everyone quotes hearsay and false regulation violations.
mr bowen does not allow training only fully qualified pilots
fact.

clart, down town says...
7:48pm Sun 6 Jul 08

@grncourt, a helicopter flew over my house today, should i contact the aviation authority?? your response would be amusing :))

cliffy, newport says...
9:08pm Sun 6 Jul 08

alexander wrote:
In response to Cliffy, flying lessons were found to be advertised on the web from Upfield Farm at the start of Mr Bowen's planning application. Since then, (surprisingly) a lot of websites relating to Upfield Farm have been removed. I wonder why??!!!
alexander your saying a lot of websites not all websites but i cant find any.

fair&square, uk says...
3:58pm Mon 7 Jul 08

All this looks to be a campaign against Ken Bowen, how long has Mr Bowen lived and had his airfield at his Farm, did these people who are complaining move in after Mr Bowen started flying from Goldcliff?
I bet most of those who are complaining moved in after Mr Bowen? Just about all of us use an airport to go on our holidays, we certainly use an airport to import some of our food or some of the things we buy in the shops every week of every year! Yet we don’t want one on our doorstep we want one on somebody else’s doorstep. Mr Bowen and his friends fly, no doubt some of the friends of those who object to his flying are hunters and use horses to chase fox’s! some no doubt are vegetarians who wear leather shoes! The point here is we should all accept that we all have different opinions and all of us want to do different things with our spare time, we should all learn to accept this diversity and welcome it! Yes flying from Mr Bowens airfield is for fun, just as those who ride horses along our country lanes do it for fun, yes a flying accident happened but due to training and skill it looks like only pride was hurt.
Come on this is more likely a vendetta against Mr Bowen from a core of people who think Mr Bowen is going to become a very rich man from his airfield, well a friend of mine once said if you want to make a small fortune out of aviation you need to start with a rather large fortune! I live in a part of Gwent that has extreme flying activity, we get upwards of 30 aircraft passing over our house every day, we do not have an airstrip near us yet come they do each and every day, do I complain NO, I like to do what I want to do and I understand that others like me have a right to do what they want to do, give the guy a break! And those of you who bought a house near an airfield, well you knew it was present when you bought, if you didn’t sue your solicitor for not telling you.

Colin Laskey, Risca says...
10:50pm Tue 8 Jul 08

Alexander said "Does it seem fair that so many local people have to suffer for the minority of people who use the airstrip?" - What exactly are these people having to 'suffer'?? - a defiition of it is "To feel or undergo pain of body or mind; to bear what is inconvenient; as, we suffer from pain, sickness, or sorrow; we suffer with anxiety. - Let's get real about this it's just NIMBYism pure and simple or as others have said - a vendetta against Ken Bowen.

marguerite, newport says...
12:01pm Wed 9 Jul 08

If Colin Lasky lived close to the airstrip he would know what these people suffer! Especially the ones with children who just want to bring them up in relative safety. I am just glad I am not so near that I have to put up with the smug attitude of the pro airfild posters here. And as for a vendetta against Ken Bowen that is just their imaginative way of dodging the real issue!

bob1, by ere! says...
3:12pm Wed 9 Jul 08

With reference to many comments on this. It is clear that no-one is disputing that it was and Accident, however I have family in the area and the dispute isn't against Mr Bowen but its abaout the way he has gone about creating the airstrip. I have found review on the internet from users of the airstrip who clearly aren't family or friends and have clearly paid for the use o