MP sets up task force to ease closure blow

The final date, 2012, may seem a long way off, but with the J fleet of Hercules set to be transferred to RAF Brize Norton by 2005, residents and service personnel fear that the well-known moniker, Wiltshire Home of the Hercules, will be a distant memory, sooner, rather than later.

The Government says that as a result of its review, some 1,780 service and 360 Ministry of Defence posts will be lost 580 of them at Lyneham.

But North Wiltshire MP James Gray, a long-time champion of the base, said he feared the toll would be much worse and he launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair for the decision.

"The Prime Minister lied to the people of Lyneham," Mr Gray told a press conference at Lyneham Village Hall on Friday, only hours after news of the closure was announced.

Referring to the assurance he was given by Mr Blair on May 17, Mr Gray said: "Having just visited RAF Lyneham, the Prime Minister, during Question Time in the House of Commons, gave me his assurance that the base would play an important part in future conflicts, but clearly this was a lie and in my view, a disgrace."

Mr Gray said the closure will have a devastating effect on Lyneham and the surrounding area, knocking a £75 million hole annually in the county's economy.

"It is a catastrophe," he said.

"Lyneham employs 750 civilian workers and 2,500 air force personnel.

"There has been no interest shown from Brize Norton in offering these people jobs.

"Most people's jobs will be lost and when you include their spouses, their families and the business they generate, we are talking about 10,000 people here who play a part in generating £75 million for our local economy."

Mr Gray accused the Government of betrayal.

"For the last 50 years, this base has played an integral part in almost every conflict, including the recent war in Iraq," he said. It has provided a superb service, always under the proud slogan of 'First in, Last out'."

The driving force behind the Save Lyneham campaign, Mr Gray has kept up a barrage of vocal support for the base since the MoD announced it was to launch a review of its operations.

This work has included a 16,000-name petition signed by residents from throughout the area.

But Mr Gray said the decision to close the base was purely one of money and one which flouted public opinion and the UK's defence needs.

"This is Treasury-driven decision," he stormed.

"Closing Lyneham's two runways and leaving all our eggs in one basket at Brize is nonsense and puts this country's security in jeopardy."

Mr Gray said the only saving grace of the announcement, was the news that the campaigners had eight more years to fight the closure. "We shall be taking action," he said.

"I will be starting by demanding an urgent debate in the Commons.

"And I will be following this by setting up a task force, which will come up with bright ideas for future uses for the base and for safeguarding this community.

"There are viable uses for the base," he continued. "The hangars for example may be useful to industry.

"We have many acres of land which would be ideal for manufacturing but our main priority must be to keep employment buoyant in this area."

Lyneham councillor Allison Bucknell also condemned what she described as the Government's underhand methods in announcing the closure.

"We have been waiting for an announcement for 18 months and despite us putting a highly credible case for keeping the base open, we have been ignored, for purely financial reasons," she said.

"This closure will have knock-on effects in a whole host of areas in social services, in housing and employment. It is what I would call a stealth tax and we'll have to pay for the money they've saved in closing the base, through our rates."

Coun Bucknell added: "I spoke to an eight-year-old boy yesterday, who was absolutely stricken at the possibility of having to move with his family.

"He told me his school was here, his youth club, his friends he said he did not want to move from Lyneham.

"Brize Norton don't want this, the people of Lyneham don't want this there are lots of losers and only one winner."

Mrs Bucknell said she was confident that a use could be found for the base but that care should be taken in the process. "I don't want to see a Swindon airport built here," she said.

"We need a big employer, but one that will retain the quality of life and the identity of the village.

"And I will be on the task force that James Gray has mentioned, making sure we get one just you try and stop me!"

Meg Bundock, who runs the HIVE, the community and information centre for the base, said she was deeply saddened by the news of the closure.

Mrs Bundock, has been at the base for 27 years since her husband was posted there. "Like many people I see Lyneham as my home," she said.

"My life is here, my daughter who died of cancer is buried here and my husband and I have bought a house here, where we envisage spending our retirement.

"Many of the forces families here will be posted away, but even so, there is a great sense of family here in Lyneham that will be lost. People who are posted all over the world apply to come back here, because of the sense of community.

"My main concern, however, is for the civilian workers who have no RAF connections and will lose their jobs.

"The important thing is that the people who will be involved in making the decisions about what happens to the base consider the needs of local people.

"They need employment, not just some industrial estate. Like many others, I hope that the Army comes. I hope that whatever is to come here, comes here in time for the base closing and that is isn't left sad and empty.

"For me, when driving along the M4, I look up and see the Hercules flying and know I am home.

"The saddest thing is that Wiltshire will no longer be the Home of the Hercules."