Councillors oppose any move to close Fort George army base

23rd June 2011

The Highland Council is to write to Dr Liam Fox the Secretary of State for Defence and Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, expressing its opposition to any moves by the UK Government to close the army barracks at Fort George.

Meeting in Inverness on Thursday23 June2011, the Council discussed an emergency report from Stuart Black, Director of Planning which highlighted the importance to the Highland economy of the Ministry of Defence base near Inverness.

The retention of Fort George was all the more important given the announcement of the closure of RAF Kinloss and the uncertainty surrounding RAF Lossiemouth.

The Council agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive to take appropriate action in the event of any further development regarding the future of Fort George in consultation with the Convener, Leader of the Administration, Leader of the Opposition, Chairman of Planning, Environment & Development Committee, Provost of Inverness and Local Members.

Mr Black told the Council that the Strategic Defence and Security Review, currently being undertaken by the UK Government, had led to considerable speculation about the future of the army barracks at Fort George.

The latest MOD statistics showed 560 personnel stationed in The Highland Council area, including 40 officers and 520 other ranks. The bulk of them were military personnel, from the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland stationed there. In addition, the nearby Cameron Barracks in Inverness provided recruitment and administrative services.

He noted that no formal economic impact assessment had been undertaken to understand the implications for the Highland economy as a result of a possible closure. However, the loss could be as much as £14 million and the potential loss of 112 jobs through the impact of the closure.

At present there were 220 MOD homes in the Raigmore area there were currently 100 pupils from military families attending Raigmore Primary School or its nursery accounting for almost 50% of the school roll.

He said: "In addition, Fort George is a significant visitor attraction operated by Historic Scotland and including the Highlanders Museum. It currently has 66,000 visitors per year and there are ambitious redevelopment plans for the Museum. This £3m project has the potential to contribute an additional £400k into the local economy and to create eight FTE posts. The loss of the military base may have implications for the Fort's role as a visitor attraction.

"It should be noted that the wider Inner Moray Firth area has already seen the announcement of the closure of RAF Kinloss with job losses of 2,300 and £68m of income. There is continued uncertainty over the future of RAF Lossiemouth and a further 3,400 jobs at risk and £90m of income. The impact of RAF Kinloss will be felt in the Highland area particularly in Nairn and surrounding districts whilst there are also impacts on the retail and tourism sectors in Inverness."

Provost Jimmy Gray, Chairman of The Highland Council's Inverness City Committee, said: "We are unanimous in our opposition to the closure of Fort George, which has such a proud history and is such an important contributor to the Inverness and Highland economies."