The village gun battle

The arguments centre on the noise from the clay pigeon shooting range built by Faulds?s father, Bruce, on the family farm and used by the Olympic champion to practise the double trap event which he won in Sydney.

It has been a long, complex saga involving countless solicitors? letters, interminable reviews of planning applications, a judicial review and tests to determine the decibel level emanating from Owls Lodge Farm.

To the Faulds family and their opponents, though, it seems simple enough. Richard and his father believe they have done everything possible to find a balance that enables that most priceless of commodities, a British Olympic champion, to practise at home while also carrying out noise-deadening improvements to ensure even the nearest neighbour, more than a kilometre away, won?t be affected.

Yet a group of villagers have long protested that, while they are proud of what Faulds has achieved, it is not acceptable if those preparations disturb their peace. They fear, too, what may happen if, as Bruce plans, the shooting ground is also used to coach other leading marksmen.

?It?s gone around in circles so many times, even I don?t know quite where we stand now,? said the exasperated Faulds.

The compromise arrangement is that he can use his range three times a week, which is okay but not perfect for him because, ideally, he needs to be able to train whenever the weather allows and the mood takes him.

So the dispute has mostly affected his mental preparations. He can?t train regularly at Bisley ? 90 minutes from the village and the only venue outside the Greater Manchester area to stage Commonwealth Games events next week ? because competitions are staged there all the time.

?To have a range two minutes away but to be worried about using it, thinking that everyone must be out in their garden with their ear trumpets listening is very frustrating,? he said. ?It would be nice to go up there whenever I felt like it, instead of worrying about what everyone is thinking.?

When, in December, the Faulds were finally granted full planning permission to use the range, which is protected on three sides by bunds ? earth banks which muffle the noise ? it had seemed to mark a conclusive victory.

Yet only last week, after Bruce agreed to the parish council?s request to apply for permission for a fourth bund between the range and the village, the county council overturned the borough authority?s recommendation, saying it was a detrimental development in the countryside.

The ruling only heightens the Faulds?s sense of being a bit beleaguered. The row has begun to feel personal. ?It?s not been a pleasant business,? he conceded. They have a large swell of support but that there was a time when he would drive through the village wondering if he was being looked at because ?he was the Olympic champion or the local bogeyman?.

It's cost Bruce, who reckons he is disgusted how some of their opponents have spread scare stories about the range, thousands to keep fighting the case.

Yet his lad has the ability to use that same blinkered focus which will make him favourite to carry off two golds in the pairs and individual double trap events to also blank out any off-range distractions. ?Life?s too short to worry about it,? he said.

Jeremy Barber, chairman of the parish council, reckons the villagers can put the rows behind them and will unite again to wish Faulds the best when he goes for gold in the pairs event on Sunday and in the individual section the following Thursday.

?It?s time to build bridges,? he said. ?I hope now that everyone can live together as neighbours.? And can, perhaps, all once again raise a glass to their golden shot in the Plough.