Plans for north Wales air gun shooting range

An air rifle shooting centre at a north Wales farm is hoping to gain planning permission after quickly becoming a popular venue for target shooting.

Hot Air Shooting Centre in was the brainchild of Ian Gwilliam.

The owner of Field Sports Equipe – an air rifle store in Rhyl – he took the plunge to establish his own facility due to the lack of places to legally shoot the sporting guns he sold.

“It has always been an issue with air guns and air rifles,” he said. “I have always loved them since I was a boy. But as I got older and it became my business, I found people who were buying air rifles from the shop would ask where they could shoot them locally.

“I could only direct them to one or two places, such as North Wales Shooting School on the Flintshire-Cheshire border.

“If you were lucky, you got the permission of a farmer or landowner to do some pest control for them to legally shoot – and if you were really lucky you had a range nearby, but so many enthusiasts find themselves struggling to find places to practise.”

Podcast

Ian, who also runs a successful Youtube podcast on air rifles also named Hot Air, was put in touch with the owner of Racecourse Farm in Babell by his co-host Gareth.

Initially he agreed to lease a parcel of land for the shooting range but before long Ian had thrashed out a deal to buy the land.

“I wanted to make target shooting with air rifles accessible,” he said. “It’s something that really interests people and it’s a great way to get young people out into the countryside.”

As the land he bought was already being used for storage Ian did not realise planning permission was needed. Now he hopes that his retrospective application will be successful.

Support

“Unfortunately I wasn’t aware of the planning rules regarding how we developed the site, but after Flintshire County Council got in touch they supported us through the process and we have had a lot of local support for the range.

“North Wales is a very rural area and shooting air rifles for sport and pest control is a part of life here, so we have been welcomed by local people and businesses and we are now hoping we can secure the right to continue doing what we do.”

On the podcast, which has around 7,500 subscribers, Ian coined the term Stop Gaming, Start Aiming to encourage youngsters to take up target shooting.

“Anyone is welcome from the age of nine, and under 18’s need to be accompanied by someone over 18,” said Ian. “I was fed up of seeing my own kids on screens all the time. This is a way to get them outdoors, doing something interesting and engaging in the fresh air.

“There are not many ranges around but ours is rare as it’s outdoor. We have shelters for shooting to keep you dry but the range itself is open air.

“We opened in May and have people regularly travelling from Anglesey, Bangor, Liverpool and further afield, because they either don’t have a range near them at all or they really want to shoot outdoors.

“There is a real thriving community of sporting shooters out there who just want somewhere safe and convenient to practice their sport.”

Roots

And despite technically being a change of use from agricultural land to leisure use, the range actually represents a return to the site’s field sports roots.

Over 170 years ago, in 1852, the final race took place at Sir Roger Mostyn, 5th Baronet Mostyn’s Holywell Racecourse. Hot Air Shooting Centre’s range is adjacent to the final furlong of the historic racetrack, some of which still survives as bridleways.

“It is strange how we have landed upon this site with its history in field sports,” said Ian. “I’m proud of the facility we have created and have been touched by the warmth with which the centre has been welcomed locally. Hopefully we will be allowed to continue offering people opportunities to try this excellent sport.”