Market Drayton mayor makes plea on Clive Barracks closure
It is vital the impacts of the closure of an Army barracks on the local economy are minimised, a civic leader has warned.
Councillor David Minnery, newly-elected mayor of Market Drayton, said it was important the closure and redevelopment of the nearby Clive Barracks was done sensitively.
It comes after the Ministry of Defence announced it would be closing the barracks, which is home to the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Regiment, to make way for hundreds of new homes.
The base is one of 10 sites across the country that will be disposed of by the MoD to generate extra money and provide land for up to 7,000 homes.
Councillor Minnery, who is also a Shropshire councillor representing Market Drayton, said: "We have two objectives – the first is to look at minimising any impact on the local economy and then to look for opportunities to enhance it.
"It will be a difficult task and it will not be finished quickly, but I am sure that working together with Shropshire Council and the MoD will present the best chance of a successful outcome."
Last week Councillor Minnery, other representatives from Shropshire Council and North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson met with defence minister Mark Lancaster to talk about the closure of the barracks.
"We visited to discuss in more detail the plans for the removal of the Royal Irish and the subsequent closure and sale of the site," Councillor Minnery said.
"We were keen to hear what plans, if any, were already in place to redevelop the site and to hear how local councils, both town and county, could be involved in the decision making process," said Councillor Minnery.
"The minister was very supportive of our request for close links and he will be allocating an official to work with the councils as we move towards closure."
"He was keen to stress that although there is a general target of some 50,000 homes across the sites being disposed of it did not follow that every site would be developed the same way and that his intention was to work within our adopted development framework."
Mr Paterson has set up a new task force to ensure that the closure and redevelopment of the barracks runs smoothly after it closes in 2020.
He said one of the aims of the group is to visit former military sites which have closed and been redeveloped.
He also believes a clear timetable of events leading up to the closure of the barracks should be revealed by the end of the year.
