KEEPING MA’AM
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT APPROVED NEXT TO SAS BASE... DESPITE NOISE WARNINGS FROM MILITARY TOP BRASS
A HOUSING estate next to the SAS’s headquarters has been given the green light – despite warnings homeowners should expect to hear a barrage of helicopters, alarms and gunfire.
The development of up to 100 homes on a nine-acre plot in the shadow of the Special Air Service’s base in Hereford has been approved by Herefordshire Council.
But the Ministry of Defence (MoD) fears noise complaints from their new neighbours could reduce the ‘operational effectiveness’ of the elite regiment, whose motto is
Who Dares Wins.
When the plans were announced in November 2019, Jodie McCabe, a senior town planner at the MoD, warned council officials: ‘Hereford Garrison is a highly operational unit. A number of facilities/ uses on the site can produce a considerable amount of noise. This includes, but is not limited to, helicopter activities, the use of (firing) ranges, the camp attack alarm and generators within a number of key buildings. The garrison operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 365 days a year.’
She also said trees should not be allowed to grow between the houses and the camp so people could not climb them and compromise security on the base. Ms McCabe also complained that applicants Anna Spreckley and Eleanor Van Straaten, whose plans include 35 affordable homes, had not contacted the MoD to ensure it did not hinder ‘national defence interests’. Existing residents had also objected to the plan. Thomas Bradley, 55, who lives in Credenhill, said: ‘Who on earth would want to live next to an SAS base and firing range anyway?
‘I can’t imagine it’s going to be very peaceful sitting in your garden listening to that.’ Councillor Bob Matthews had said ‘the benefits outweigh the modest negative impacts of this site’.