Forces for Good: Making the most of military land for public benefit (January 2012)
A discussion paper produced by Julian Dobson for the Bill Sargent Trust updating and taking forward the 2010 Trust report “In the Public Interest” looking at issues around the disposal of MOD land – an important issue for Hampshire and nationally.
Summary:
The reorganisation and scaling back of Britain’s armed forces over the next decade will affect communities all over the UK. The size of the armed forces will fall by at least one tenth by 2021, and number of civilians employed to support them will drop by one third in the next five years. As a result large numbers of former military sites will become surplus to Ministry of Defence requirements.
Many of these sites will be in areas that have strong social and economic ties with the armed forces. Communities will lose employment and business opportunities; but they will also have a rare chance to benefit from new uses of the sites that become available. These benefits could include new business and economic activities; affordable housing; services and facilities for ex-service personnel; the preservation of heritage assets or the creation of new public green spaces. But they will only be realised if the Ministry of Defence builds long term partnerships with local communities.
Such partnerships depend on the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, which is responsible for the MOD’s land and property, being released from pressure to obtain the maximum cash receipts as quickly as possible when disposing of assets. A longer term understanding of value needs to inform its actions, with the wider public benefit overriding narrow departmental interests.
To download a free copy of the Forces for Good report, please click this link (36 page report)
