The government’s decision to develop a military technical training centre on the RAF Lyneham base is expected to fuel demand for a large number of new homes in the area.
Although the decision to retain the Lyneham site in a long term military use is widely supported, property specialist Louise Seaman of Colliers, said: “A review will be needed of the area’s future housing requirements as new military and civilian personnel will want to live locally.
“Wiltshire Council has just gone out for its Core Strategy consultation which sets out the housing distribution across the county. This consultation document makes the assumption Lyneham is expected to close in 2012, however in light of this week’s decision we would expect them to review its strategy given the potential spin off effects.
“With 1,500 new military jobs and other civilian posts created due the sheer scale of this investment, the council will need to identify significant land opportunities to meet the additional demand for housing, which could inevitably involve greenfield sites being developed. Towns closest to the former base will clearly be affected by the resultant development pressures.”
The announcement made in Parliament indicated that 1,500 new military jobs will commence at Lyneham from 2013, however, other civilian jobs will be also created boosting the local economy of towns such as Wootton Bassett and Chippenham.
“The anticipated closure of the Lyneham RAF airbase would have meant a loss of £95 million a year to the local economy, so the new military training centre is a welcome boost and means the end the worry of a very uncertain future," Ms Seaman said.
