Did you know that registration to Fighter Control is completely free and brings you lots of added features? Find out more....

Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

A forum for discussing all things related to MILITARY AVIATION including Military Aviation news. No off-topic discussions here please.
User avatar
Gary
Administrator
Posts: 41809
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 4:51 pm
Location: South Lincolnshire

Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Gary » Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:57 am

Worst case and RAF Northolt is closed could 32(TR) Sqn operate out of London City for example? Or go to somewhere like Benson
Proposal to close 100-year-old RAF Northolt base to build 20,000 homes to tackle London housing crisis

A proposal has been put forward to shut down a working RAF base to build thousands of homes, getwestlondon can reveal

A suggestion has been put forward to close the historic RAF Northolt station and build 20,000 homes on the site in an attempt to combat London's housing crisis.

The idea was submitted by Ealing Council for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's "City for All Londoners" document which outlines challenges and opportunities from across the capital.

Ealing suggested the working 100-year-old RAF station could be closed as it “serves no real strategic importance” and the land could instead be developed for housing.

The council has called for “radical thinking” and said the plans could help meet the housing challenges London faces.

But Hillingdon Council in the neighbouring borough has vowed to oppose the plans, saying 20,000 houses would put too much pressure on public services.

'Radical thinking is needed'

An Ealing Council spokesman said: “London is facing a massive housing crisis and we believe that some radical thinking is needed.

“We submitted the possibility of developing sites in Ealing, and the neighbouring borough, to help meet this challenge as part of our recent response to the Mayor of London's consultation on his City for All Londoners document.

“The development of RAF Northolt is one idea currently up for discussion.”

The City for All Londoners consultation ran from October 24 to December 11 last year, and encouraged a wide range of groups to put forward their views to shape policy at City Hall.

Challenges looked at in the consultation included housing , transport , crime , culture, health and economic development, and the document sets out changes City Hall wants to make over the next four years.

...
Full news article getwestlondon
Posh are going to Wembley (albeit for a tin cup)

Northolt Nobbler
Posts: 201
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 10:33 am

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Northolt Nobbler » Thu Jan 26, 2017 10:28 am

Funny this...

There must be another RAF Northolt which is actually located in Ealing!

And don't believe everything you see in black and white from local rags with new editors who belie the trust offered during visits to either one of the Northolt's...

User avatar
Thunder
Posts: 4989
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 10:24 pm

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Thunder » Thu Jan 26, 2017 10:46 am

20,000 homes on the site of Northolt, what are they planning on building.............................


this
http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/ ... iginal.jpg

User avatar
Ghostrider01
Posts: 158
Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2014 12:16 pm

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Ghostrider01 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 11:01 am

It had some strategic importance when the Typhoons deployed there to protect the capital !

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

User avatar
The Phantom
Posts: 3681
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 7:16 pm

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by The Phantom » Thu Jan 26, 2017 12:27 pm

Ghostrider01 wrote:It had some strategic importance when the Typhoons deployed there to protect the capital !

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Yes i thought the same thing. They've all got very short memories!

Andy_99
Posts: 964
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 12:37 pm
Location: Hebburn

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Andy_99 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 12:29 pm

Yeah lets solve the housing crisis by closing all of our airfields & building on them :P

Oh Burger that bloke in charge of Russia is getting a bit feisty, best ramp up the Airforce to meet the threat

Mmm Errr where we gonna put the planes boss :P

Precinct7
Posts: 1206
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2011 7:56 pm

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Precinct7 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 1:15 pm

A kite flying exercise by Ealing council to test the flak defenses

of course build 20,000 house's , but do not build any new roads or access as they will all travel by bike

User avatar
mike.p
Posts: 347
Joined: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:48 am
Location: West London

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by mike.p » Thu Jan 26, 2017 4:02 pm

I wouldn't think a local Council would have the power to close a MOD airfield.
mike.p
NOW RETIRED
Canon 7D
70-200 II L lens
100-400 L lens
28-70 L lens
Uniden 3500 and 800xlt radios
photo shop elements 10
blue Peugeot 307

Sparts99
Posts: 2761
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:02 pm
Location: Kent

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Sparts99 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:03 pm

mike.p wrote:I wouldn't think a local Council would have the power to close a MOD airfield.
mike.p
Exactly. It's a proposal to show due diligence and all options have been considered so they don't get sent away to work on something they hadn't thought of, no matter how unlikely that prospect might be.
In this world there's two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.

User avatar
Pen Pusher
Posts: 1965
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 5:58 pm
Location: St Ives, Cambs

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Pen Pusher » Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:35 pm

Thing is, RAF Northolt isn't in the Borough of Ealing, it's in the Borough of Hillingdon which is next door to Ealing. Northolt town is in Ealing though.

Brian

rh226
Posts: 14698
Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:43 pm
Location: Melksham, Wiltshire

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by rh226 » Thu Jan 26, 2017 6:17 pm

Northolt Aerodrome was my introduction to aircraft - from a push-chair!!! We lived under the approach and Mother used to take me down Wingfield Way, through what is now the crash gate and down the Eastern side of the airfield. In the SE corner (near the Polish War Memorial) there was a narrow gauge railway track - coal-fired locomotive and a couple of sit-on (straddle) "carriages". If you look carefully at Google Earth, you can see where it ran.

That aside, if you read the quote in the first post carefully, you will see that Ealing looked at possibilities within their borough and the neighbouring borough (Hillingdon).

Hillingdon are not enamoured with the idea for several reasons.....and will oppose it.
Cheers, Bob

RubyRoo
Posts: 334
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:30 pm

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by RubyRoo » Thu Jan 26, 2017 7:54 pm

It's an interesting one.

The land is obviously worth an absolute fortune being situated in West London. Should the money raised from selling the land be reinvested within the MoD, it's hard not to feel compelled to sell the site. Alleviating the housing crisis is also never a bad side effect.

Aside from the Olympic deployment, what strategic purpose does it serve?

I'm not 100% sure why they even decided to base Typhoon's at Northolt in 2012. The security effort was overkill considering they based Ground to Air missiles in the capital as well. If a Typhoon really wanted to, it could be over central London incredibly quickly from Coningsby anyway.

If any active RAF base should close, it really should be this one.

Rugbyref
Posts: 381
Joined: Mon Feb 03, 2014 7:12 pm
Location: Orpington, Kent

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Rugbyref » Thu Jan 26, 2017 8:20 pm

I don't understand why Northolt could not be linked by Maglev to Heathrow, allowing aircraft up to about A319 size to use the Northolt runway as Heathrow's 3rd runway. Have 2 car Maglevs, 1 airside only, 1 landside only.

CHINOOKER
Posts: 6216
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:58 pm
Location: North of r/w 25 Northolt

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by CHINOOKER » Thu Jan 26, 2017 10:32 pm

Yet another wild idea from the "basket case" that is Ealing Council. The current infrastructure that surrounds RAF Northolt,struggles to cope now,without another XX,000 houses being built on that site. Anyone who uses the A40/West End road and the roads in Ickenham,at both ends of the day,will testify to that! With regard to the MOD,they have in the past few years,consolidatied many units,(non RAF included),from many other sites in and around London,into Northolt...so all of these would have to be found new locations to go to....thus reversing the savings they seemingly made. RAF Northolt is also somewhat of a "cash cow",to the MOD,with regard to the civil biz jet operation there! If some of the facts are to believed,the money made from "civil ops" there,over a year,are more than enough to cover the cost of operating the airfield for the RAF/MOD. Also at present,there are plans afoot to upgrade the runway,both in levelling it out and strengthening it's structure,so that it is more "accessible" to heavier aircraft.....read into that what you will !!. One final point that Is also being missed,is the fact that "special ops" of many differing components often use Northolt as both a permanent base and a temporary one. Anyone who lives near here, will often hear,late at night,the unmistakable noise of a certain twin engined aircraft,climbing in the overhead,before going out on task.....if you are a light sleeper,you will probably hear it return in the early hours....Not sure if places like London City/Biggin or Farnborough etc would be so accommodating with regard to this!
In my opinion,the future of RAF Northolt is reasonably assured,given current MOD consolidation proposals....although i believe over time more of it will be taken over by "Civil ops",perhaps in a way that the MOD own the site,but it is contracted out to a civil operator,for day to day running,but with the proviso that whenever there is a "military movement",this will have some form of priority status. Time will tell,I suppose

Edit...To proove it's use....The local spec ops a/c has just departed....22.40

Zulu63
Posts: 50
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:35 am
Location: RAF High Wycombe

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Zulu63 » Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:44 am

RAF Northolt already operates as a joint military/civil airport. The civilian aircraft are serviced and fuelled by the Northolt Jet Centre part of London City Airport Ltd. https://www.londoncityairport.com/about ... tjetcentre

CHINOOKER
Posts: 6216
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:58 pm
Location: North of r/w 25 Northolt

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by CHINOOKER » Fri Jan 27, 2017 9:35 am

Zulu63.....Yes,you are correct in what you say.....what I was referring to was the airfield side of Northolt as a whole,with civilian contractors responsible for the infrastructure and day to day operations,aircraft handling,Air traffic control etc....that way all the RAF will do,is fit thier limited operation into that.

Tally-ho
Posts: 692
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 7:12 am
Location: Nottinghamshire

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Tally-ho » Fri Jan 27, 2017 1:23 pm

So we have two scenarios -

- to keep Northolt as a bit of both (civil and mil) on some shared basis as seems the case now.
- to close Northolt and develop the site into housing.

The mere fact that it is shared means neither civilian nor military needs it. Certainly the RAF does not need it and with all of London's other civilian airports, the case for 'airplane' Northolt is non-existent. Nice to have, yes many things would be nice to have.

Infrastructure?
Where is this place in England that has no infrastructure problems?
Where is this place that has no pressure on services?
Where must the housing crisis find a solution?
A UK population of 64 million and counting ....

The realities of life - my vote goes for housing on the no longer needed Northolt.

User avatar
bizfreeq
Posts: 2941
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:08 pm
Location: Bournemouth UK

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by bizfreeq » Fri Jan 27, 2017 5:47 pm

The mere fact that it is shared means neither civilian nor military needs it.
Conversely your 'argument' also means both need it!
If the constraints on movements levied by local authorities were to be lifted the executive jet side would explode at Northolt. Increases in the annual movement total are a continual battle with operators queuing up to use the airport. This lack of allowing this increase is the only thing holding Northolt back from becoming another Farnborough.
The upgrading of the runway shows both sides commitment to the continued use of the aerodrome and long may it continue. No it doesn't have any real use strategically but it still has use!
Cheers
Mark



If our airforces are never used, they have achieved their finest goal.
— General Nathan F. Twining

Tally-ho
Posts: 692
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 7:12 am
Location: Nottinghamshire

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by Tally-ho » Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:51 pm

bizfreeq wrote: Conversely your 'argument' also means both need it!
No - and here are the reasons. Quotes below are from your post.

- "...the executive jet side would explode at Northolt". You think Londoner's want another busy airport? Think again.
- "This lack of allowing this increase ... ". Already the authorities are aware of public opposition to expansion.
- "No it doesn't have any real use strategically ...". Exactly, that's one part of the argument nullified, by yourself.

I note you have conveniently ignored the central point of my post, which is why this discussion is even aired here. The magic word is 'Housing'. Does London need housing or does London need a half-in half-out obsolete airport?

Let's here your answers on the housing crisis.

POL
Posts: 16717
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 3:26 pm

Re: Ealing Council propose closure of RAF Northolt

Post by POL » Fri Jan 27, 2017 9:54 pm

I'm sure the residents around Biggin, Luton, Farnborough, etc. would love the additional traffic...

Post Reply

Return to “The Fighter Control Mess”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: BlackDragonU2, Yammer and 100 guests