Runway footpath diverted at Guy Ritchie's airfield

18 August 2025

News image — A new path has been proposed around the edge of Compton Abbas Airfield

BBC A blue, red and yellow plane and a white and blue plane stationary at Compton Abbas Airfield. It's a sunny day and the sky is blue — A new path has been proposed around the edge of Compton Abbas Airfield

A public footpath which directly crosses a runway in an airfield owned by film-maker Guy Ritchie has been diverted.

A new path around the edge of Compton Abbas Airfield in Dorset was officially certified as a legal route on Thursday.

It is about 500m (1,640ft) longer than the previous path and was requested in March by Ashcombe Estates, trading as the airfield.

The changes coincided with the moving of the test area for aircraft, which is now further away from any public path.

LDRS/Dorset Council A diagram showing how the footpath could be changed to go round the edge of the airfield instead of directly across it. It also shows that the test site for engines could be moved to be slightly further away from where the new footpath would be — The plans included moving the engine test position

The airfield said "the flying community has been very supportive" of the changes.

Compton Abbas Parish Council initially objected to the plans, saying the path had likely been in existence since 1888 without problems or accidents, but it withdrew the complaint.

Dorset Council said: "The decision at the Strategic and Technical Planning Committee was to refer the confirmation of the order to the Secretary of State, this was because we had an objection.

"However, after the meeting, the objection was formally withdrawn and therefore Dorset Council was able to confirm the order itself."

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