RAF 'superbase' work to start soon (From Witney Gazette)
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RAF 'superbase' work to start soon
5:55pm Wednesday 28th February 2007 in Witney By Tim Hughes
WORK on a £47m RAF 'superbase' for Oxfordshire is set to begin within weeks.
The project, at RAF Brize Norton, will more than double the amount of planes at the base, and see new housing and terminal facilities.
It is believed up to 600 Ministry of Defence houses could be demolished and replaced with 800 new homes. There will also be a number of jobs created at the base - both during construction and in the long-term.
People living near the base are being assured that disruption will be kept to a minimum and the airbase will actually be quieter, because it will house more modern planes.
The MoD has awarded the first contracts for work which will see 118,000 m2 of concrete hard-standing for planes.
The project, codenamed Programme Catara, will prepare the base for an influx of planes from RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire. The project will be completed by 2012, when Lyneham closes. Brize Norton will then be the only base for air transport and air refuelling in the country.
