Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott has written to the Prime Minister asking him to make sure the county receive funds for infrastructure upgrades to cope with the arrival over the next few years of 4,300 extra soldiers and their dependents – a total influx of about 8,000 people.
Most of these servicemen and women will be coming back from Germany under the government’s plan to close all British bases there and re-base in Britain. The Ministry of Defence will be spending “over £800 million” in the Salisbury Plain training area ahead of their arrival.
That “over” was supposed to be £50 million for investment in public services to support this sudden increase in Wiltshire’s military population. But it is difficult to know where that money is now.
Announcing the changes last year, the Defence Secretary noted the impact on the Salisbury Plain area where: “…substantial infrastructure investment will be required—£800 million of MOD investment, together with investment by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department of Health and the Department for Education to provide the supporting local infrastructure.”
The problem for Mrs Scott is how that money gets to Wiltshire Council and the various health care commissioners.
Mrs Scott told MNO: “We’re lobbying. We can’t be negative about this – it brings a huge amount into the local economy. And it comes just as we were planning for a downturn in the working population.”
“The new British army doesn’t move its soldiers like it used to. So Wiltshire becomes their home – and that’s much better for families.”
So as men and women leave the army, “It will give us a very skilled workforce with a work ethic to match. They come out of the army quite young and their officers have great management skills.”
And here is a statistic that puts Wiltshire’s military connections in a new light: about 12 per cent or 54,000 of the county’s population are veterans of the armed forces.
While much of the infrastructure work will be done inside the area’s military camps (as the army puts it “behind the wire”) a significant proportion of it will be in the community: housing, health, social care and schools.
The housing requirements “outside the wire” will involve the construction of 1,117 houses for service families. In addition the Ministry of Defence is buying 100 existing homes in Tidworth for units arriving in 2015.
Although the re-basing to Wiltshire starts this year, it will not finish until 2019. But with planning well underway, Mrs Scott needs some certainty: “It’s a bit slow getting to know about the money. It is important we get this money as soon as possible – at least have the comfort the money is coming – so we can plan in good time.”
Mrs Scott explains that getting the health services right is complicated. There will almost certainly have to be extra maternity capacity at Salisbury hospital – as well as more A&E and children’s health services.
GPs surgeries and dentistry are other areas of concern. Mrs Scott is pleased that one of the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s lead GPs is on the group working on these infrastructure needs.
In the South West, Wiltshire is the local authority by far the largest contingent of serving men and women – 15,000 (including dependents it is about 30,000 at July 2012 figures.) Plymouth’s naval population is next at 6,500 (about 11,500 with dependents.)
There will be advantages for the Council. The Ministry of Defence pay families’ council tax – about £7.5 million last year – and that sum should increase by just over a quarter.
Mrs Scott is certain there will be both needs and advantages across the county. At the last count there were 30 children from military families in Marlborough’s schools and there are already signs that officers’ families are buying and renting homes in villages in the Marlborough area.
Mrs Scott believes that once complete the re-basing will improve the footfall in shopping centres like Marlborough and give a real boost to the area’s businesses.
Soon Mrs Scott wants to send a team out to Germany: “So we can meet the families and welcome them to Wiltshire.”
NOTE: developments in support of the re-basing will be subject to normal planning processes. A consultation process was held from February 19 to April 1 and the 300 responses have been reviewed and an updated ‘Masterplan’ has taken account of the comments.
No housing developments are planned which can be seen from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
The MOD’s Defence Infrastructure Organisation will submit the final Masterplan to Wiltshire Council’s Strategic Planning Committee in July.
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