The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
P&J petition to save Fort George barracks signed by over 1,000
Campaign: Original target reached in only three weeks after it was launched
More than 1,000 people have given their backing to the Press and Journal’s campaign to save the historic Fort George barracks from closure.
The Fight for Fort George petition broke through its original target last night – just three weeks after being launched.
Highland Council leader Margaret Davidson hailed the backing as a “clear signal” to UK defence chiefs that the 250-year-old garrison will not be shut down without a battle.
Film star Hugh Grant
“The figure is a clear sign that people are getting behind this campaign”
has added his name to the list, as well as MPs Angus Robertson and Drew Hendry.
MSPs including David Stewart and Kate Forbes, and numerous councillors, business leaders and exservicemen and women have signed up.
The Press and Journal launched the campaign last month after revealing that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) was reviewing the future of the base.
Mr Hendry, the Inverness MP, has also tabled a motion at Westminster calling for the retention of the barracks – gaining support from 28 MPs from across the country. Last night, he said: “Obviously, in the early days of the petition, it is really good to see it’s growing in numbers and it is reflecting what I am hearing from people about the subject.
“People are greatly concerned and it’s clear that the MoD and the UK Government should be taking this ridiculous proposal off the table.”
Mrs Davidson, the local authority leader, has demanded talks with MoD ministers about the plans.
Last night, she welcomed the progress of the petition, saying: “It’s a clear signal that people are getting behind this campaign.”
Built after the Battle of Culloden, the base has been home to the famous Black Watch battalion for nine years, and attracts 55,000 visitors annually.
It is estimated that a pullout by the Army could cost the Highland economy £14million a year and lead to the loss of more than 100 jobs, as well as threatening the future of the recently revamped The Highlanders’ Museum, which is based at Fort George.
The MoD is aiming to reduce its overall estate by 30% and save £1billion, with a full list of affected sites in the “Footprint Strategy” due to be revealed this autumn.
A spokeswoman for the department has said that “no final decision” has been taken about Fort George.
Inverness South councillor Carolyn Caddick signed the petition yesterday.
She said: “I was delighted to sign it. We must do all we can.” Any animal straying on to a north or north-east bombing range can be forfeited to the king – and humans doing the same face a £5 fine.
They are rules from a bygone age created to secure the area’s military estates – and are still in force to this day.
But now defence chiefs are carrying out a review of all of the country’s military bylaws.
It will include those covering Fort George near Inverness, the bombing and firing ranges at Tain, Cape Wrath and Uist, and Blackdog rifle range in the north-east.
Some of the rules provide useful advice to anyone who encounters an unexploded bomb.
In 2008, the maximum fine was increased from £5 to £500.
The bylaws covering the Butec torpedo testing site, in the Sound of Raasay, were changed last month to pave the way for an expansion of the site. The others are due to be changed as part of a process which has already been under way for four years.