I chaired a panel discussing the future of Hampshire’s former defence sites.
The event – held at Bursledon Brickworks – was organised by Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust and focused on the sustainable regeneration of former Defence sites in our region.
1.8% of land in the UK is owned by the MoD, making it one of the largest land holders in the country.
The Government is currently planning to reduce the defence estate by 30% as over 40% of built assets are over 50 years old costing £2.5bn per annum in maintenance.
Rather than having a large estate spread throughout the country, the Government plans to cluster the forces around centres of specialism, for example, armoured vehicles around Salisbury plain, surface ships in Portsmouth and Devonport and combat aircraft at three fast jet bases in England and Scotland. The new ‘clusters’ will have modern facilities for servicemen and women and their families. It will also be modernised in line with the changing role of the Armed Forces in the 21st Century.
The South East is uniquely placed in the country as we as a region will see the highest number of redundancies totalling 23 separate defence sites. This has raised questions over how the released land should be used.
I would like to say a huge thank you to Hampshire Buildings Preservation for organising this event.
This is an exciting opportunity for our region. The current defence estate is costly, ageing and unsuitable for our Armed Forces, so by releasing these sites we can find new innovative purposes for them.’
Speaking on the panel were Dr Celia Clark, a Trustee of Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trust and expert on managing former defence sites; Dr Ann Coats, Senior Lecturer at the University of Portsmouth; Rob Harper, of Gosport Borough Council; Commander Martin Marks OBE; Martin Small of Historic England; Deniz Beck, Director, of Deniz Beck Partners, an award winning architectural practice which has worked on heritage sites around Hampshire; and David Craddock, Director of Elite Homes, a property developer.