THE town and country planning system is there to regulate the development and use of land in the public interest.

Public interest necessitates that all development is carried out in a way that would not cause demonstrable harm to interests of acknowledged importance, such as residents, businesses and the environment.

Thereby, Hambleton District Council has been left with something of a headache when it comes to the grass airstrip and ageing collection of buildings on the site at Bagby.

The acrimonious struggle between a group of residents of the village near Thirsk and nearby Thirkleby and the airfield over claims of excessive noise and changing facilities has seen the council drawn into no man's land, taking numerous hits over the past eight years.

While some would say the council should look to itself for its past failure to monitor goings on at the site, a number of long-standing residents of the villages, who understandably do not want to be named given the friction the issue has caused, say they have no issue with the airfield.

They also raise the issue of cost to the taxpayer of the ongoing chain of public inquiries.

However, some residents say flights to and from the airfield are the bane of their lives and have persistently pressed the authority to curtail activities at the rural location. Campaigners appear as determined to see a crackdown as they were when proposals to expand the airfield were unveiled eight years ago.

With more plans for the airfield in the pipeline, the fourth public inquiry in five years due and entrenched positions remaining, it would seem a good time for the council to consider how the saga can be ameliorated.

Common sense would say that the interested parties should be brought around a table to agree a way forward.