Urgent action urged on RAF base homes (From Witney Gazette)

Urgent action urged on RAF base homes

2:21pm Tuesday 9th January 2007 in Witney By Rosalind Miles

WITNEY MP David Cameron has called for urgent action to improve living conditions for service families at RAF Brize Norton.

The Conservative Party leader said the Government should 'get its act together' and replace current dilapidated housing at the base.

He said: "If the Government wanted to, it could fix this.

"The bottom line is some housing has been refurbished, but on the whole, we are asking our servicemen and women to live in substandard accommodation.

"Because the housing is relatively low density, it could be knocked down, more houses could be built, more houses for forces families, and more affordable homes - which would make Carterton a more attractive town."

Mr Cameron said his party was going to bring together a whole forces manifesto to tackle problems facing service personnel.

His comments came after a row over forces accommodation being substandard was sparked by a senior army chief last week.

Army personnel chief, Lt Gen Freddie Viggers, said: "We have too much accommodation which is of a poor standard, which is old, and which is not modern in the way it's fitted for families.

"It's one of the key issues for me in what we call the military covenant - giving our soldiers what they deserve, in turn for what they do for us."

The wife of an RAF serviceman based at Brize Norton said her husband left the military because of the bad conditions on the base.

Speaking anonymously on BBC Radio Four's Today programme, she said "This Government is losing highly-trained and qualified personnel hand over fist."

There are 300 empty homes in Carterton awaiting demolition, and approval has been granted for 600 to 800 new homes to be built.

Much of the land and housing was sold by the MOD, and now belongs to Annington Homes.

Former flight lieutenant Peter Madden, a Carterton town councillor, said he thought forces families, based at Brize Norton, were being let down by the current state of housing.

He said: "I have lived in RAF accommodation for some time. It was a lot newer then, and was spacious and warm and quite good.

"That was 20 years ago, and since then, it has been sold to a private company, and has been left to deteriorate.

"A company is interested in profit, not in providing accommodation.

"They are letting down all the forces, not just the RAF.

"On the Brize Norton base, they have built new accommodation for the single guys, but they need to do more for the families.

"The pre-fabs were put together designed to have a limited life, but their life has been extended by painting the upper storey of some of them and putting on new roofs.

Mr Madden added: "They are past their sell-by date."

Former RAF flight lieutenant and Carterton town councillor Paul Wesson has been campaigning for new homes at the base for years. He said: "The pre-fabs should have been pulled down in the mid-80s. They are 20 years over their life-span. I still feel very strongly the servicemen and women and their families deserve better. The problem is the Government can't afford a few bits of plastic body armour, let alone to build new houses for families at Brize."

Neil Tomlinson, squadron leader at Brize Norton, said it was hoped that up to half of all the housing for RAF families would be replaced in the next five to ten years.

But he emphasised that no one was living in substandard conditions. He said: "The worst housing is at the end of its life, and is no longer economically viable to repair. It is better to demolish it and start again.

"Every family posted here is given a comfortable, warm, and decent place to live. They may not look pretty on the outside, but inside, they are perfectly comfortable and of sufficient quality to live in. They are also significantly cheaper than private renting.

"We do have people living in unrefurbished houses, with old kitchen and bathroom units, which are not worth refurbishing, but they are paying as little as £150 per month.

"We have a rolling programme of improvements and we work closely with Defence Estates and sort out any problems quickly."

When asked about David Cameron's call for a private finance initiative to replace current housing, he said: "Politicians can make political capital out of what they like, but what's needed is the money to replace the houses."

Three new single service personnel accommodation blocks, including 72 single rooms, costing £13m, were built at Brize Norton last year.