Delays prompt bid for RAF housing (From The Oxford Times)

Delays prompt bid for RAF housing

3:00pm Saturday 14th April 2012 in News

DEFENCE chiefs have applied for permission to build a temporary accommodation block at RAF Brize Norton, while negotiations over plans for a permanent building continue.

The Ministry of Defence, which says the delay is adversely affecting operations at the west Oxfordshire base, hopes to build four three-storey accommodation blocks, housing 240 bedrooms, for a temporary period of two years.

The application was submitted because negotiations with West Oxfordshire District Council, over plans for a permanent 312-bedroom block, are still ongoing.

Plans for the block were given permission in March 2011 but the two bodies are still locked in discussions over how much developer money the council will receive from the MoD as a result.

The MoD said: “This delay has adversely affected the anticipated start on site to such an extent that this has materially affected daily operations of staffing at RAF Brize Norton.

“This has consequently resulted in a temporary shortfall of bed spaces at RAF Brize Norton, needed to accommodate staff until the new 312 bed spaces are completed.”

It added: “The proposed temporary living accommodation comprises of bedroom accommodation with a shared communal core of facilities for showers, toilets, washing and drying rooms, to provide a home for personnel serving on the station.”

The new rooms are needed because RAF Brize Norton has taken on thousands of new service personnel following the closure, last year, of RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire.