Hampshire County Council
Planning and Transportation Committee Item 9
16 November 1998
Daedalus Airfield - Progress Report
Report of the County Planning Officer
1. Summary
1.1 Hampshire County Council in partnership with Gosport Borough
Council, Fareham Borough Council and the Ministry of Defence
(MoD) commissioned a study on the viability of aviation
continuing at Daedalus. The results of the study were
reported to this Committee on 6 July 1998 when it was
resolved that the Daedalus Joint Members' Working Group
should be reconvened to consider the findings of the study.
This report records the outcome of the Working Group meeting
which was held on 21 September 1998.
2. Introduction
2.1 Daedalus airfield is located between Stubbington and Lee-
on-the-Solent, as shown on the attached plan. In 1997 a
Development Strategy for the site was approved by the local
planning authorities and the MoD. It is anticipated that
the site will be marketed early in 1999. The Aviation Study
was commissioned by Hampshire County Council, Fareham
Borough Council, Gosport Borough Council and the MoD to
assess the commercial viability of aviation use of the
airfield. The study concluded that commercial air services
were unlikely, the general aviation market being more
attractive. In regard to the viability of utilising the
existing three runways, only maintaining the main western
runway in operational use was considered to be financially
sustainable. From a commercial perspective the consultants
recommended that the site be disposed of as a single entity.
3. Daedalus Joint Members' Working Group
3.1 At the Daedalus Joint Members' Working Group representatives
of the three local authorities expressed their support for
the Police and Coastguard operations remaining at Daedalus.
The Group considered a report (copy attached) which
considered the way forward in the light of the aviation
study. Three issues were identified on which views were
sought:
(i) options for locating employment consolidation areas;
(ii) possible partnership approaches; and
(iii) method of site disposal.
Options for locating employment consolidation areas
3.2 The Daedalus Development Strategy identified possible future
development options for the airfield, including the possible
relocation of some of the existing empty hangers on the
eastern part of the site to a less visually exposed area
adjacent to the main existing building complex in the south.
However, a key consideration in the possible relocation of
these buildings is the need to safeguard the underlying
mineral deposits from development which may sterilise their
potential for future extraction. The deepest mineral
reserves are located to the north of the Gosport Borough
boundary. The Working Group considered four possible
locations for employment areas (refer to attached plan), and
Site D was the preferred choice.
Possible partnership approaches
3.3 On the initiative of Fareham Borough Council the possibility
of some or all of the local authorities participating in a
joint venture with English Partnerships (or its successor
the Regional Development Agency) to acquire all or part of
the airfield (excluding the built-up part within Gosport
Borough) was considered. In this way the local authorities
could exercise control over the site as landowner as well as
planning authority. Members recommended that officers
investigate possible partnership arrangements.
Method of site disposal
3.4 As landowner the MoD will determine the method and manner of
the site's disposal. However, to provide the local planning
authorities with an influence over the selection process,
Members resolved that the MoD be formally requested to
consider the following proposals:
(i) expressions of interest be invited for the purchase
of the whole airfield;
(ii) representatives of the local authorities be invited
to comment on any expressions received in terms of
the extent to which they meet the agreed strategic
planning aims of the local authorities; and
(iii) the final sale to be via a selective closed tender
process, which would ensure that only acceptable
proposals (from the local authorities' point of
view) could go forward to the tendering stage.
3.5 The County Council's Economic Development Officer has
highlighted the risks of safeguarding long term aviation
activity, including its use by the Police and Coastguard if
Daedalus is disposed of on the open market. The Economic
Development Officer is of the view that disposal to a public
sector based consortium would ensure the local authorities
objectives for the site are achieved.
4. County Planning Officer's Comments
4.1 The partnership arrangement between the County Council, the
two Borough Councils and the MoD over issues relating to
Daedalus has proven successful with an agreed Development
Strategy for the site and in the joint commissioning of the
Aviation Study. The Joint Members' Working Group has
provided another helpful step forward in providing an
indication of Members' views to report back to their
respective authorities for consideration prior to the
marketing of the site by the MoD in the New Year.
4.2 The Group's support for the use of the airfield by the
Police Surveillance Unit and Her Majesty's Coastguard is
welcome. Their continued presence at Daedalus, be it
through the Police Authority's purchase of the western
runway and associated land and buildings or, failing this,
through some form of long lease arrangement should be
supported. This would secure continued use of at least part
of the airfield for aviation use for the foreseeable future
consistent with Hampshire County Structure Plan (Review)
policies regarding the reuse of former MoD airfields.
4.3 I have reservations about the preferred option for
consolidating employment uses - Site D. Whilst there is
merit from a planning perspective in relocating and
consolidating the eastern hangers to the south of the site
adjacent to the existing/proposed built-up area within
Gosport, thereby protecting and enhancing the largely
undeveloped open character of the airfield within the
Strategic Gap, development in this locality would have
implications for some of the deepest mineral reserves. As
Minerals Planning Authority, the County Council, together
with the other local authorities, has a responsibility to
ensure that any new development does not prevent or
prejudice future extraction of valuable sand and gravel
deposits. Any proposal for the reuse of the airfield,
including the relocation of existing hangers within the
site, will need to ensure that this did not sterilise
significant mineral reserves. Therefore, further work needs
to be undertaken to assess the possible impact of
development on the mineral reserve and other policies before
a final decision is taken as to the most appropriate
consolidation area.
4.4 In relation to the County Council participating in some form
of joint venture scheme to acquire the airfield, I am not
convinced that there is a strong case. I believe that the
local authorities' aspirations for the site (including the
County Council's) can be achieved through the existing
planning process. Any development proposals will have to
have regard to the policies of the Hampshire County
Structure Plan (Review), the appropriate local plan and the
approved development strategy for the site. The local
authorities position will also be strengthened if, as seems
likely, the MoD allows the authorities to have some
influence over the selection process when the site is
finally marketed. In this regard, therefore, I fully endorse
the Working Group's proposal that the MoD be requested to
involve the local authorities in the selection process.
Recommendations
1. That Fareham and Gosport Borough Councils be thanked for
convening the joint Members' Working Group.
2. That Fareham Borough Council, Gosport Borough Council and
the Ministry of Defence be advised that the County Council:
(i) supports the continued use of the western part of
the airfield by Hampshire Police and Her Majesty's
Coastguard;
(ii) considers that officers should undertake further
work to establish suitable locations to consolidate
employment uses on the airfield, having regard to
the need to safeguard mineral deposits and
consistency with other policies; and
(iii) is not persuaded of the need to participate in a
joint venture scheme, however should any other
authority come forward with a detailed proposition
the County Council would give it due consideration.
3. That the County Council requests the Ministry of Defence,
when disposing of the site, to safeguard the interests of
the Police and Coastguard, and that in the event there is no
direct sale to any public authority to consider the
following proposals:
(i) representatives of the local authorities be invited
to comment on any expressions received in terms of
the extent to which they meet the agreed strategic
planning aims of the local authorities; and
(ii) the final sale to be via a selective closed tender
process, which would ensure that only acceptable
proposals (from the local authorities' point of
view) could go forward to the tendering stage.
4880/SB
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