Semley protest against drone factory

67 people joined a protest walk from Semley village to Chaldicott Barns on Saturday morning at 10am, opposing plans for a large military manufacturing facility on a five-acre site behind the barns. The proposed development by Rotron Aerospace, which was acquired by American company Ondas Holdings earlier this year, has raised concerns about traffic, noise, the impact on the Cranborne Chase National Landscape and the potential military use of the technology manufactured there. The company hasn’t said what they’ll build there specifically but many locals assume it’ll be drones. One of the coordinators of the opposition response to the planning application , Stephen Dobson, described Saturday’s event as a “really cheerful, well-marshalled walk in the sunshine”. He said all but three or four participants came from Semley or neighbouring villages, including farmers, local business owners, parents and grandparents of children attending Semley Primary School. Community police officers helped keep walkers safe from traffic along the narrow road, something Mr Dobson suggested reinforced local concerns about the site’s suitability for potentially hundreds of additional vehicles. Before the group set off, Mr Dobson explained the planning process and how residents could make their views known. He said those attending had different motivations, including road safety, environmental concerns, geopolitics and moral objections to the development. But he said the group was united in its opposition, describing the proposal as “the wrong project, in the wrong place”.

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