MOD St Athan hangars support Afghanistan logistics drive
The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is submitting a planning application to Vale of Glamorgan Council for a change of use to two hangars at MOD St Athan that will create local jobs.
It is planned to use the hangars, which are currently vacant, to store military equipment as the UK begins withdrawing troops from Afghanistan. The plans will see the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) temporary storage capacity increase to help manage the return of equipment to the UK.
The plans mean that up to 30 temporary jobs will be created at the hangars, which will be needed for storage from autumn 2013 to spring 2017. The vacancies will be mostly for warehouse operatives and a small number of administrative and security posts.
Only part of the space in the hangar complex will be used for military equipment storage, leaving the remainder of the space available for commercial use. No weapons, munitions or hazardous items will be stored. The MOD and the Welsh Government are working in partnership to achieve a gradual phasing out of military use and a phasing in of commercial use as part of the St Athan - Cardiff Airport Enterprise Zone.
DIO Senior Estates Adviser John Jones said:
“DIO’s priority is to support our Armed Forces as they prepare for operations by providing the facilities they need to do their job. We’re also committed to ensuring the military estate is no larger than necessary and provides taxpayers with value for money.
“We are delighted to work in partnership with the Welsh Government so that we can provide support to our troops, whilst helping to ensure that Welsh businesses have the opportunity to access excellent commercial facilities in the longer term.”
Further information
Press enquiries to Tony Moran, Communications Manager on 0121 311 3879 or email tony.moran572@mod.uk
DIO website: www.gov.uk/dio
Notes to Editors
1. The hangars will be used to store some 50,000m3 of military equipment and consumables including vehicle and aircraft spares and camp infrastructure equipment. The port of Barry will not be used to bring in equipment returning from Afghanistan, as the majority of stock will be sourced from other UK Defence sites by road. It is estimated that lorry movements will peak at 15 per day (Mon- Fri) during the initial stocking of the warehouse between Jan and March 2014.
2. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) is part of the MOD. We are responsible for managing and maintaining land and properties, as well as providing related support services, to meet the current and future needs of the MOD and personnel at home and abroad, and to support current operations.
3. Our work includes providing, supporting and improving: operational units; single living and service family accommodation; training areas and historic military sites. DIO actively manages these and supporting services, such as soft facilities management and guarding, to ensure the needs of Defence are met, value for money is achieved, heritage protected and environmental goals achieved.
Background – Afghanistan drawdown
Work on managing the recovery of UK equipment from Afghanistan is underway, having begun in October 2012. Redeployment is being carried out in a way that achieves good order and represents value for money but which ensures that UK troops are resourced properly to the end, and that the drawdown of equipment will not compromise our ongoing operations.
The increasing capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces is driving the transition and redeployment process, allowing the role of UK and other International Security Assistance Forces to evolve from leading combat operations to training and supporting the Afghans.
As announced by the Prime Minister, UK combat operations in Afghanistan will conclude by the end of 2014.
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