40 Commando update
A House of Commons paper published today summarises the state of play with MoD estates including the 40 Commando barracks outside Taunton:
The report notes that several MPs focused on the impact of closures of bases in their own constituencies and the strong links between the units and the local community. Rebecca Pow “worried about the “knock-on effect” in Taunton with 40 Commando leaving their Norton Manor camp.”
I am not sure how much comfort there is to be had from this latest update from parliament but there are two pieces of news to report. Firstly that the Defence Secretary has pointed out that many closures would not take place until after 2020 (by which time of course there will have been a General Election!). Unhelpfully he didn’t add which bases might close after 2020.
More interestingly the paper notes that the MOD will begin talks with local authorities to help alleviate the impact on local communities. What that means in terms of hard cash, might turn out to be interesting.