Guy Ritchie has secured planning approval to create Airbnb-style holiday accommodation at his historic Dorset airfield.
The filmmaker’s proposal to convert staff quarters at Compton Abbas Airfield into short-term lets had drawn objections from nearby residents.
Critics have claimed the director is pushing ahead “by any means” and attempting to create what they described as an “aviation theme park by stealth,” while paying too little attention to the surrounding environment.
Some locals fear the latest approval could be another step toward a larger commercial vision for the sensitive site, including the possible development of a hotel. The airfield sits within the Dorset National Landscape and forms part of the Cranborne Chase International Dark Sky Reserve.
The Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director has already overseen a series of notable changes at the airfield since taking it on.
After buying Compton Abbas Airfield in 2022, Ritchie opened a smokehouse restaurant and diverted a public footpath said to be around 130 years old.
The site has also begun offering Spitfire flight experiences, helping transform the rural airfield into a busier visitor attraction with events staged across the year.
The newly approved plans will see existing staff accommodation converted into two holiday apartments: one with two bedrooms and another with four.
Locals are worried that director Guy Ritchie is planning to create an aviation theme park ‘by stealth’ as planning permission has been given for two holiday lets on the sensistive site
What was once a ‘polite small grass airfield’ now attracts visitors to watch aviation shows and take part in flying experiences. One neighbour said going into his garden now feels like ‘walking onto a WW2 film set’
They will allow guests to stay overnight while they enjoy flying experiences during the day.
Neighbour Christopher Dymond said the regular flying events caused a nuisance and disturbance to neighbours and likened going into his garden to ‘walking onto a WW2 film set’.
Mr Dymond said: ‘Compton Abbas Airfield, until recently, was a polite small grass airfield run for local flying enthusiasts and was managed carefully to reflect the incredibly sensitive location and the proximity of local villages.
‘The airfield now is run on a much more commercial basis and largely by stealth is morphing into an aviation theme park with numerous events, shows and visitor attractions.’
The airfield has had permission for a flat for live-in staff since 2005.
On the submission of Mr Ritchie’s planning application, locals argued against the director being allowed to change the use of the staff apartment – they said this was for a member of staff to live on site to provide ‘security and safety’.
Mr Dymond continues: ‘The current apartment was only allowed on the basis it was an absolute necessity for a member of staff to be on site for safety and security reasons.
‘If this safety and security requirement is no longer a necessity, there are provisions in the planning legal agreements for the use to cease, not for it to be opened up for paying visitors to stay on the site, without any staff presence.’
But Dorset Council disagreed and said there was no planning reason to refuse it.
Planning officer Jamie Francis said: ‘The owner has been open that they are seeking to generate additional income streams for the airfield, which would have personal gain, but this is also considered to bring economic benefits to the area.
‘Overall, the re-use of the building for tourist accommodation in place of staff accommodation is considered acceptable.
‘A condition has been applied to ensure that the accommodation is used for short term lets only and not for permanent residential accommodation.
Dorset Council dismissed local complaints and said that the commercial benefit would help the local economy. Here, a two-seater Spitfire similar to the one to be used at Compton Abbas Airfield taxis at an airfield
Mr Ritchie has already opened a smokehouse restaurant and re-routed a 130-year-old public footpath since buying the airfield in 2022
The airfield is in the Dorset National Landscape and part of the Cranborne Chase International Dark Sky Reserve. Neighbours believe the planning permission has been given with ‘no regard whatever for environmental issues’ at the sensitive site
‘The conversion of one unit of staff accommodation and one office unit to two units of holiday accommodation is considered acceptable.
‘In addition, two units of accommodation to two units of holiday accommodation are considered acceptable.
‘Therefore, the Council see no reason to refuse the application on this basis.
‘The impact of holiday accommodation is anticipated to have a negligible impact on neighbouring amenity, air pollution, and the overall business of the airfield and flight activities.’
The airfield is near Ritchie’s Ashcombe Estate on the Dorset/Wiltshire border.
He previously shared Ashcombe House with ex-wife Madonna and now he and wife Jacqui split their time between their London home and the country estate.
He has hosted celebrity pals there, including David Beckham and Robert Downey Jnr.
Despite the glamorous clientele and extravagance, Mr Dymond was not having any of it.
He added: ‘The nuisance and disturbance to local residents has increased significantly and many of the historic planning restrictions governing the airfield are not being adhered to.
‘Often, on a summer weekend, entering your garden is like walking onto a WW2 film set with noisy historic aircraft constantly flying overhead.’
Philip Cayford, a neighbour and member of the Compton Abbas Airfield Monitoring Group, said: ‘It began as a small private strip capable of hosting up to six small aircraft.
‘It has long since been accepted that the original permission was a planning mistake; councils since that time have accepted the need to curb the expansion pushed for by successive owners.
‘The current application would appear to be a further attempt to increase the size and profitability of this site by any means with no regard whatever for environmental issues or the inconvenience to local residents.
‘Approving this application would constitute one further step in the commercial development of one of the most beautiful and sensitive rural landscapes in southern England, and as such is quite inappropriate.’
