flipflopman RB199,
Oi! Don't get all arsey with me, I'm not the one who took the decision, your Lords and Masters did.
However, as you pose the question..
At one point Lyneham was home to in excess of 60 Hercules, it had the largest Engineering Wing in the Air Force and all of the technical back up for such a fleet in terms of engineering, stores, workshops etc. It is absolutely stuffed full of buildings ranging in age and origin from the late 30's to the 90's.
I think there will be a substantial rebuild to accommodate all of the units from Cosford, Bordon, Arborfield and Gosport but there is a lot of existing infrastructure there to begin with.
I suppose a good way of illustrating the difference in size between Lyneham and Cosford is to pose the question' " At the peak of the resident Hercules fleet, 4 squadrons, a large OCU, a HUGE Eng Wing, simulators, an Air Despatch Squadron, UKMAMS, an Air Terminal etc etc etc, could you have moved all that from Lyneham into Cosford?"