Like all the rest it will eventually be handed over lock, stock and barrel to the volume housing developers (or maybe a prison if the locals are REALLY luck). It's just a waiting game....

Wethersfield Housing plans

It's Cranfield or nowhere, that's been obvious from day 1. Both Wyton and Duxford were just put in as diversions to distract from the near certainty that Marshalls of Cambridge aviation business no longer has a home in Cambridgeshire. Like you I'm cynical as to the eventual outcome...

Well it seems like the MoD are hesitant, in two minds, if to selk Wethersfield or not so sharing it with a civilian operator might be the ideal solution for them

I’m pretty sure you have hit the nail on the head here. The profitability of their aerospace division has not been stellar of late and an opportunity to grab a wad of cash will be difficult to resist.

Had they suggested such a plan to start with then the local job losses may have precluded the council granting planning permission for any use of the airfield.

Let's be fair, Marshalls aren't the villian here. Cambridge Council has been trying to force them out for years so the airfield could be released for housing. All Marshalls have done, wisely, is play their hand to best advantage. They've waited until the desire for housing land is so great they can name their price, call the shots in terms of the planning permissions, set their own timeline to vacate, etc. It's an approach that is enabled by central government's crazy policy of insisting we build 300,000 houses per annun - whether we want them or not. It means local authorities have to find enough land for huge volumes of new homes, otherwise they get penalised and the houses still get built anyway!

Our insatiable appetitie for land to be developed is a national tragedy that is destroying our environment and our quality of life, but we are too short sighted to do anything about it unfortunately.

"It's an approach that is enabled by central government's crazy policy of insisting we build 300,000 houses per annum - whether we want them or not"

I think you need to talk to people under the age of 35..... the UK is extremely short of new, affordable housing.................... especially around areas like Cambridge

Too right. My stepson works just north of Cambridge and wants to move there but the cost of housing, even a flat, is beyond his means, even though he's a professional.

I do wish that another term could be coined for so-called 'affordable housing' !Let's face it,if you've enough money,any house is affordable,and if you don't have enough money,no house is affordable ! Perhaps we could call it cheap housing (cheap being a relative term).

Until the UK starts building public housing again in volume there will be no place for young people to buy in S England - Cambridge is bad, Oxford is similar. Places like the Thames Valley are £250-£ 300k for a tiny place in one of the "more interesting" neighborhoods.............

Quite so however developers are very careful not to build so many houses that prices (and thus profits) might fall.

Only social housing would or could reduce the cost of houses and that's not going to be happening anytime soon.

Prices drop rapidly as you go north from Cambridge, to the point that sensible JRs (the ones who don’t spaff their money away on PCPs on high-end motors) can afford to live out from Marham. Lots of very affordable places in the Fens too. Yes, they may be less desirable, but if the goal is to stop paying rent and accumulate some capital then there is choice available.

Hawarden ... nice big A380 wing hangar going to be empty there soon!!

Seeing as everyone has pitched in with every other option, I'll make a bid for Old Warden...

I see Old Warden and I raise you LHR - nothing happens there for about 8 hours every night - should be perfect.......................

Given MB are having issues with their airfield at Chalgrove as well (although the speculation they 'took one for the team' might have ended that problem) you would think there would be merit in the various private aerospace firms that need an operational airfield for their business, to get together and take over one big one to all move into the one airfield? Harder for a council to take on multiple corporates than a single one?

The new guessing game is "Marshalls of ?????".....

"Harder for a council to take on multiple corporates than a single one?"

it's not always the Councils- the shareholders and the finance types at the companies all look at the bottom line and then at how much they can get RIGHT NOW if the sell for development - bit a of a no brainer TBH from a financial view. And the Councils are under pressure from voters and the Govt to find more land for housing.....................

It would be interesting to know what you could sell LHR for ..................

On the face of it a good idea; but it ain't, sadly.

Many of the staff would not move to Somewhereville and there won't be any qualified people there to recruit afresh. Without the pink-podgy things you have no business.

Empty hangers at Manchester Airport now- ex Thomas Cook and Air Livery. HS2 will be stopping too....

What about Bourn Airfield, it's close to Cambridge. Rural location and it's in use as an airfield so less issues in some respects. Relatively good road links too.

Gone for housing. Covered with containers last time I flew over.

What if Bassingbourn could be wrestled from the MoD? Just saying.

Aaron.

Got that right. A 250-property housing estate near me is being built at a rate of 25 homes a year. At one every two weeks the developers can practically name their price.

Too close to Stansted, which was the reason it was closed in the first place.

Base leg for 22 runs parallel and half a mile north at 4000’ and “over the top” inbounds from the West pass directly overhead.

Wouldn't be cheap to reinstate the runway and taxi ways though.

What about Bourn Airfield, it's close to Cambridge. Rural location and it's in use as an airfield so less issues in some respects. Relatively good road links too.
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Bourn is already earmarked for housing

How about Manston? Good runway, fair bit of space for site development, don't how it fits in with their location requirements.

I would imagine that for continuity purposes they would want to stay within commuting distance of Cambridge. If not I'm sure there are a whole host of potential sites that would be interested. Some of them are even active airfields.

Then surely the answer is Cambridge airport which is already developed sufficently for their needs and shove the bloody houses on those disused / closed airfields within commuting distance that everyone has discounted as unsuitable for flying operations, or am I being too logical.



..

Nut - the Great British Public only see a large open area with a few aircraft wandering around every so often - and no-one likes commuting

TBH I could see the Council weighing 4000 jobs or so and saying "we can get 10,000 new jobs and a load of houses on that site" - on your way

Even more worrying is to look at the Marshall Group website - it lists their Property division as second to their Aerospace division...............

CM,
If Marshall's did relocate to Wethersfield I would imagine their traffic density would be low and relatively straightforward to co-ordinate with Stanstead arrivals/departures - certainly easier than Northolt/LHR due to numbers (though it may require yet another airspace grab). However, Wethersfield is, IIRC, fairly basic nowadays so there would need to be considerable infra investment which may well be beyond Marshall's means. Bentwaters / Woodbridge (if the upcoming SDSR closes it) are likely better options - though with a load of anti-flying locals - but at least other tenants to shoulder some of the costs. Still think Cranfield is favourite. Is North Weald too small?

Probably more space at Weald than there is at Cranfield.
Probably more grumpy locals though, which will be the issue wherever they go these days.

Other than the mutual benefit maybe from the college and industry co-located in one place, I can't see there being enough space at Cranfield to build new facilities to replace what they have at Cambridge?
Unless the intention is to significantly reduce facilities once moved because of eventual C130 OSD?