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Campaign to open Daedalus for General Aviation On 14 May 2008 the Chief Constable of Hampshire announced that the airfield would remain open. This page and those below it have been left on the site so you can see what the issues were and how they were dealt with. For a quick overview try the Frequently Asked Questions page. General Aviation magazine has carried two good articles explaining the situation at Lee in some detail. Click here to read them. Lee Flying Association (LFA) began working for General Aviation at Lee-On-Solent in June 2007, and was officially formed on 22 July 2007. The LFA comprises aviation users and wider supporters of use of the aerodrome for General Aviation and Community Initiatives. LFA campaigns to keep the aerodrome open for the activities that have taken place since the Royal Navy paid off HMS Daedalus airfield in 1996, and to promote inclusion of the airfield in a network of UK General Aviation airfields. Click here to find out how you can help.Lee Flying Association Ltd was formed to further the work of LFA and if necessary manage the aerodrome. When disposed of by Defence Estates in March 2006 the aerodrome infrastructure was split across two new owners. The First Secretary of State acquired part of the airfield including the runways, making it a Government owned aerodrome. The First Secretary holds the land for the Department for Transport for use by their Executive Agency, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). CHC Helicopter Corporation of Canada operate two Search and Rescue Helicopters on behalf of MCA from the site. The second owner is South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) who own the taxiway network, hangars, aircraft manoeuvring, fuelling and parking areas. It is clear that the Daedalus development policy will lead to MCA land and part of the SEEDA land continuing to be "airside" (i.e. used as part of the aircraft manoeuvring area) while other (southern) parts of the SEEDA land will become "landside" and not subject to the movement of aircraft. Unfortunately MCA have erected fencing which reflects land ownership rather than providing an airside/landside boundary. Click here for the airfield land ownership plan. Hampshire Police Air Support Unit (HPASU) are tenants and operate a single Britten-Norman Defender twin-engined aircraft. Both MCA and HPASU enjoy the support of the local community for their 24x7 operations. With a 57 year history of flying operations at the airfield, the Royal Navy's Portsmouth Naval Gliding Centre (PNGC) is the longest established operator at the airfield. PNGC accounts for the vast majority of aviation movements at the airfield and has a truly excellent safety record, as does the airfield as a whole. Hampshire Constabulary (HC) took over operational management of the aerodrome when the Royal Navy paid off HMS Daedalus in 1996 . This is an unusual arrangement as no other constabulary manages an airfield (as opposed to a helicopter landing site). MCA continued this arrangement when they bought their part of the airfield. SEEDA apparently entered into no agreement with either MCA or HC regarding the longstanding aviation activities on the SEEDA parts of the airfield. In the eleven years (to date) of police management the airfield has been used safely, without injury by light aircraft, gliders, microlights and helicopters as well as for community activities such as model aircraft flying and children's motorcycle display teams. Aviation businesses including flying schools, two maintenance organisations a helicopter charter company and a microlight manufacturer moved their businesses to Lee, bringing skilled jobs in aviation and engineering to the area. On October 18 2007 Hampshire Constabulary announced they had decided the aerodrome would be closed to all general aviation users (other than MCA, the Police, and PNGC) from 16 November 2007. Within a day one aviation engineering business reported they had lost a 70,000 pound contract and within two weeks had lost more, to a total value of over 200,000 pounds. Despite recent significant investment in its engineering facility at Lee the business faces closure with the loss of 5 jobs. Other businesses will have to close if they do not have access to the runway. A twenty-year Flying Training business has no other South-coast airfield it can realistically relocate to and has now ceased operating.
The Airfield
Manager's
notice of closure gives no reason for closure. Closure goes against assurances given by SEEDA when they acquired their land and is in direct contradiction to the Fareham and Gosport local plan and SEEDA's stated policy. The Joint Planning Statement For Daedalus of April 2006 produced by Fareham and Gosport Borough Councils states:-
When they acquired the site in 2006 SEEDA stated on their website and in Press Releases:-
The Future Existing general aviation and community use can remain and flourish at Lee, incurring no or low additional costs to the taxpayer, meeting the expressed needs and desires of all the many and diverse stakeholders, including DfT, MCA, HPASU. A range of proposals and suggestions exist that could support this in the immediate, short, medium and long term. The LFA and its aviation advisors continue to try to engage positively with the public sector, seeking opportunities to inform the executive decision makers of the positive practical options that exist to stabilise and normalise aviation at Lee. Follow the links on the left for more information. |
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