Government urged to scrap Army plans for Otterburn
[15
June 2001]
THE GOVERNMENT is being urged to ditch Army plans to use parts of Northumberland National Park for the test-firing of long-range rockets.
A decision on the future of the Otterburn training area is expected soon but the Ramblers' Association has argued the development of the Army range will have a major impact on the national park and hit tourism in the area. |
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The plans, which have been the subject of two public inquiries, would involve new roads, gun emplacements and parking areas for weapons and heavy artillery at a total cost of £25m. The Army says Otterburn is the only range long enough to test-fire its M28 Multi-Launch Rocket System
(MLRS). But research by the Council for National Parks has found the Army has only 251 M28 training rockets left in its stores and, with no replacements planned, supplies could well have run out by the time the range is developed.
Work would involve the construction or widening of 73km of road and tracks with extra military traffic also using many of the surrounding roads. There would be more toxic acid pollution from the rockets as well as disturbance to wildlife, including the rare black grouse.
Otterburn makes up a fifth of Northumberland National Park and includes 11 sites of special scientific interest, two national nature reserves and 26 scheduled ancient monuments.
Research available from the Northumberland National Park Authority shows that some £10million is generated from visitors
each year, not including spending on accommodation in the area. Otterburn is one of the great wilderness areas within the
park and is responsible for attracting a large proportion of those visitors.
Terry Pollard, chairman of the Ramblers' Northern Area, said: "People visit Northumberland because of its special beauty and isolation. With a massive increase in noise, irreversible damage to the countryside and pollution from rockets, those people will be scrambling to leave!
"The Government mustn't accept these unnecessary and unpopular plans which will inevitably have such a catastrophic effect on the environment and our local economy."
Other objectors to the Otterburn plans include the national park authority, Northumberland County Council, the Countryside Agency, the Council for the Protection of Rural England, and the Association of National Park Authorities. Any decision to allow the development would go against the Labour Party's recent manifesto pledge to protect national parks and the government's stated commitment ‘to put the environment at the heart of decision-making'.
Photo by: Terry Carrol
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