Top Gear test track to be turned into housing estate

The famous Top Gear test track will go the way of the Dodo after the local council approved a plan to build 1800 new homes at the site.

Waverley Borough Council approved a plan on Wednesday which will see Dunsfold Aerodrome, the home of the famous TV test track, repurposed into a business park.

The Aerodrome currently homes 100 businesses which employ 800 people, as well as being the site of the famous Top Gear track.

Part of the new development must provide affordable housing, with Jim McAllister, the Dunsfold Park projet chief exeutive saying it’ll be an area for a community to flourish.

"The development of Dunsfold Aerodrome will provide homes for young families currently priced out of the area, direct development away from green fields, create new jobs and deliver a range of new community facilities and infrastructure improvements."

However, opponents of the development claim the site is not needed.

The loss of the Top Gear track to the encroachment of housing developments is a theme many Australians would know.

The iconic Oran Park circuit in New South Wales is now a suburban development, and tracks such as Sandown and Lakeside are seriously hampered by noise restrictions.

These tight regulations were implemented following complaints from residents who moved to the areas after the tracks had been built and operating.

Aside from being the site where The Stig has thrashed numerous of the world’s fastest and most exotic cars, the Dunsfold Aerodrome, which was built in World War Two as a bomber base, is also used for driver education and training, as well as housing the Surrey Cycle Racing League in Summer.

The Dunsfold Park project was first proposed by the owners of the Aerodrome in 2006, with 2,600 homes originally slated to be built.