Just Another Jocky,
To expand on Red Line Entry's post
The question of RAF Wittering and Burghley Estates was answered during 2009 in a Freedom of Information request.
http://www.mod.uk/NR/rdonlyres/E0B3C...reqdec09_2.pdf
Answer: (Taken from FB cache of person that filed the Freedom of Information request - See bold in reference to land issue)
I have just received an official MoD response to a Freedom of Information request:
Your correspondence dated 17 December 2009 has been considered to be a request for information in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 / Environmental Regulations 2004.
The Secretary of State for Defence announced in the House of Commons on 15 December 2009, that key adjustments will be made to the current Defence programme to enhance the support to our personnel on operations in Afghanistan, and announced that Joint Force Harrier will be reduced by one Squadron. It was therefore necessary to look at the continuing requirement to maintain two Harrier bases in the UK, which in the final analysis could no longer be justified. This resulted in the closure of RAF Cottesmore and the consolidation of the Harrier force at RAF Wittering.
The decision to close RAF Cottesmore rather than RAF Wittering was made for a number of reasons. Firstly, RAF Wittering is the better suited from an operational perspective. The infrastructure such as runway configuration and Harrier operating surfaces at RAF Wittering was considered to meet the longer term needs of the RAF more effectively than that of RAF Cottesmore. The financial case also supported the closure of RAF Cottesmore rather than Wittering for a number of reasons; for example there are two Harrier simulators based at RAF Wittering which would be expensive to relocate and in addition to its function as a flying station, in recent years, RAF Wittering has become a major logistical hub, and relocating this element would be costly.
The land comprising RAF Wittering - which is identified as a "core site" in the Defence Estate Development Plan 2009 - is owned freehold by MOD. The Core Estate consists of locations that are either large bases or groups of sites that have an indefinite operational future; or individual core sites, which are expected to support defence outputs for at least 15 years. The majority of the land was purchased from the Burghley estate between 1924 and 1966, with a right for the estate to repurchase several parcels of land should the site become surplus to defence requirements and be sold (other than as an airfield or for other Government use) prior to 31 July 2022. There are no plans to dispose of RAF Wittering.
TJ