Latest on campaign to save North Weald airfield

[Stan Sted]

I received last night an email from the North Weald Airfield Users Group, which is campaigning to prevent the famous Essex aerodrome from being turned into a housing estate.
I posted it here early this morning but the group's chairman's has now submitted the information posted below.
It goes without saying that the users' group needs all the help it can get at this very difficult time.
North Weald would not be the same without the many warbirds, light aircraft, gliders and model aircraft that use the field and an important part of Battle of Britain and RAF history would be lost for ever.
Cheers
SS

[UV]

I would like to draw attention to the forthcoming Enquiry in Public relating to the future of North Weald Airfield.

We have circulated our data base and below is a copy of the letter recently sent out.

PLEASE take the time to read it and lend any support you can, financially or otherwise!

UV
Chairman North Weald Airfield Users Group.

PS Mr Mod...can you stick this thread until 15 Feb?
Thanks



NORTH WEALD AIRFIELD - UPDATE

PLEASE KEEP IT FREE

14th / 15th FEBRUARY 2006 at 9.00am



Dear Supporter,


It has been quite a while since anything important has happened in connection with the campaign to save North Weald Airfield hence you have not heard much from us. However rest assured we have been chipping away behind the scenes keeping an eye on things as they develop.



However that is all about to change because the hearing at the EiP (Enquiry in Public) is approaching fast and the matters relating to the airfield are due to be heard on 14th and 15th February in Letchworth. This will be the most important event to date when the Inspector will make his decisions as to whether or not North Weald Airfield is to be kept included within the RSS 14 report and hence recommended as a site for housing.



We have taken the decision to appoint Peter Kember of Kember Loudon Williams (planning consultants) to act with us and on our behalf at the enquiry. Peter Kember has a lot of experience in planning connected to airfields and we feel him to be the best man for the job. This does of course come with a cost attached and your donations made over the last 2 years will be contributing towards that although this does leave a shortage that needs to be addressed.



As you have kindly registered on our database to be kept informed of events and help where possible we now need to ask you for 3 things.



1) The EiP (Enquiry in Public) is an important event and it is vital that the inspector sees for himself the extent of the support for the Airfield. The meeting is held in public and we need to get as many supporters as possible in the public gallery. Please will you attend the meeting in Letchworth (Hertfordshire) on the 14th and/or 15th February to show the strength of support. We cannot state too much the importance of your presence at this meeting. The airfield has one chance at this and the public gallery needs to be filled.



2) We need to raise a further 4000 GBP to meet the consultants fees and campaign expenses. At our last appeal we received very generous donations from supporters all round the world and we need to repeat this generosity to pay for the services that have a chance to save the airfield. Please, the campaign needs more money and we ask everyone to contribute wherever they feel they are able to.



3) We need to increase the airfields supporters database even further. Can everyone pass on the website address www.northwealdairfield.org to everyone in their contacts list who will be prepared to register on the website and at some stage to write the odd letter of support for the airfield. The Airfield is our heritage and what we achieve now will be our legacy for future generations - so even those not directly using the airfield on a daily basis we feel it is everyone's responsibility to help preserve our history and heritage before it is built on and lost forever.



The North Weald Parish Council are laying on buses to run from North Weald Village to the EiP in Letchworth on the 14th and 15th Feb. If anyone wants to reserve a place on the bus please call the parish clerk directly on 01992 534825



For those who wish to travel direct to the EiP the address is:-



Spirella Ballroom, Bridge Road, Letchworth, SG6 4ET



For those wishing to make a contribution to the campaign please send cheques to :-



NORTH WEALD AIRFIELD USERS GROUP

C/O The Squadron

North Weald Airfield

North Weald

Nr. Epping

Essex

CM16 6AA



And make cheques payable to:-

"North Weald Airfield Users Group"

and write your name & email address on the reverse of the cheque. Thanks.



Finally a thank you to everyone who lodged objections to the enquiry. We managed to get 6500 objections lodged which represented one quarter of the total objections received for the entire matter 8h for the region. Well done and thanks. If we keep the pressure on we have a good chance of convincing the inspector at the EiP that the airfield must not be built on.



We look forward to seeing you at the EiP on the 14th / 15th February. Please make every effort to attend if you can.



Thank you



From the

North Weald Airfield Users Group.

[AerBabe]

Unfortunately, I can't make it to Letchworth. What a ridiculous place to hold an enquiry about North Weald! I hope it goes well, UV.

For those who heard recently about us becoming listed, maybe UV could clarify. My understanding is that the listing only relates to buildings on the other side of the road through NW village - opposite the old airfield entrance. These are nowhere near the airfield itself, for the purposes of preserving the ability to fly here.

[UV]

Sorry Stan Sted but I didnt realise you had started a thread!

AerBabe...yes there was some excitement when they announced listings at historic airfields. North Weald (and many others) were mentioned.

Here is what they wrote about NW;

QUOTE: Fighter sector station with Battle of Britain associations, and after Kenley and Debden retaining the best-preserved of the landscapes put in place by Fighter Command at the beginning of the Second World War. UNQUOTE

When we checked with them we found that all they have listed is Norway House, the old Officers Mess on the other side of the Epping/Ongar road, and not even on the airfiled.

As you know it is used to house homeless families nowadays....so there you go.

Mr Moderator..any chance of a Sticky until 15 Feb?

UV

[Zulu Alpha]

Does anyone know what we need to do in Letchworth?

Do we just show up at 9.00am on one of the days?

Is there a badge, placard or something so the enquiry knows we support the airfield?

In my experience of an enquiry (Crowfield) the public is a block of seats at the back or edge of the room. Just because there are lots of people there doesn't support one view or another unless they have large "I support North Weald Airfield" badges, banners or similar. The inspectors do notice if a large group shows up supporting one of the parties but it must be very obvious otherwise it goes unnoticed.

I'm not sure about the value of being listed. The terminal building at Ipswich was listed so the council just closed the runways and built houses around the terminal building.

[BRL]

Good Luck. :)

[Stan Sted]

BRL

Thanks for that.


Perhaps the chairman might like to post a link to the action group's site so that fellow PPRuNers can see the scale of the housing development proposed for North Weald?

[AerBabe]

North Weald Airfield Users Group (http://www.northwealdairfield.org/)

[Champagne Anyone?]

Might sound like a daft idea to some but have you thought of setting up a paypal account for North Weald? This would enable supporters like myself to donate money direct to the 'cause' over the internet saving time and effort for all concerned? You could get the paypal system to forward money via DD direct to a bank account.

Might speed things up and allow supporters to donate with ease.

I'm certainly willing to be the first to do this!!

Happy Landings!! :ok: :ok:

[AerBabe]

A paypal account has now been set up. You can view the details through their website (link two posts above).

[UV]

Thanks for the suggestion of a pay pal account. It has taken a few days to set up and the direct link is:

http://www.northwealdairfield.org/Campaign/donate.html

Please give genourously as we have to meet quite a large bill from our Professional Adviser at the Enquiry in Public.

Thank you
UV (Chairman)
North Weald Airfield Users Group

[UV]

It seems that the second day, 15 Feb., is the one for discussions about North Weald.

Please attend if at all possible!
UV

[Kolibear]

I'll be there! If anyone else is thinking about coming from SE Essex & wants a lift, PM me ASAP.

[HZ123]

It feels mean to suggest this but the loss of NW may make Southend and the one down the road off the M25 safer in the future. As an ocassional visitor to NW it would seem to the casual observer that there is not enough business to support it, irrespective of its heritage. I cannot see that however much is collected it will prevent the inevitable. However, I wish all concerned the very best and at the least a stay of execution for a few more years.

[AerBabe]

Good luck for tomorrow everyone. I wish I could be there, but someone's got to keep the airfield running! I'll be thinking of you all. :ok:

[Kolibear]

HZ123,

You need to appreciate that North Weald is not just an airfield, it supports a wide variety of other activities apart from flying. Off the top of my head, there is the largest outdoor market in the UK , Essex Gliding, drag racing, the car club people, boat jumbles, the was a motorbike market a few weeks back, HGV training, archery, model aircraft flying etc etc.

And thats before you get on to the aviation side of the airfield.

North Weald is also one of the very few airfields in the UK whose neighbours actively support it, the villagers are up in arms at the though of losing it, indeed, the village sign features a Hurricane.

As for making Stapleford & Southend more secure, I can't see that at all. Southend is a thiving airport and as it expands it is more likely to eject GA rather embrace it. There is a move afoot to redesignate all airfields as brownfield site, making them easier to develop in thefuture. Stapleford could easily fall victim to that.

North Weald is also ideally place to handle traffic for the 2012 Olympics and is within a short distance of Canary Wharf.

[UV]

You are not going to believe this.....

TODAY Tuesday 14 Feb, we dicovered that the Panel are now going to hear the submissions about NW TODAY, not tomorrow, as previously briefed by the Panel. An undated note has suddenly appeared on their website, with NO direct notification to us.

Following their previous information we published WED as the day for NW.

Their excuse is that they are putting on a Webcast as they expect a large number of people to attend and have therefore reversed the schedule.

I wonder how deliberate this is....

UV

[AerBabe]

Really sorry to hear that has happened, UV. I hope there's something you can still do... Yet another incident along the very long path you've all been treading. :(

[UV]

STOP PRESS
To clarify....they are discussing NW in gereral terms today, quite unexpectedly.
Our submissions WILL be heard tomorrow.. so please continue to attend.
Sorry about the sudden panic....but being a long way away...
UV

[B Fraser]

Good luck with the campaign. NW is too precious to lose. I fondly recall dropping in on a sunny Sunday morning for coffee and a bacon buttie. A colleague and I had decided to survey as many cafes as possible that lay within 60 mins of RAF Halton. We decided that NW was very special the moment we set foot inside wooden hut. The waft of Jet A-1 and the distant howl of a privately owned Vampire spooling up was pure magic.

[chevvron]

I drag raced there at the first two meetings; 1985 was it? Didn't know they still did it there. I remember there was a big hole in the surface right next to the start line, and as I was only running on 10in dia tyres(Zip Kart - NOT Go-Kart!), it was a bit awkward!

[Ripline]

Thanks for setting up the PayPal account - made it easy for me to contribute :)

Have fond memories of being taken by my Dad in the 50's to park near the end of the runway (on the public road) and seeing the mixed squadrons of Hunters, Vampires and Meteors taxying up to the end, turning and burning!

How wonderfully exotic was the smell of avaition kerosene in those distant days :{

Good Luck to the Cause. It must be a fantastic feeling knowing that the locals support the airfield activities. The variety of public interest activities taking place have GOT to be an important part of the Inspectors' assessments.

Ripline