English Heritage acts to save cold war legacy at risk

Cold War base at Upper Heyford near Bicester English Heritage will give evidence at a public inquiry into plans to redevelop the internationally-important Cold War base at Upper Heyford near Bicester in Oxfordshire which begins today (30 September 2008). English Heritage will argue that a balance must be struck between the need to build houses and the need to ensure this vast 20th Century Cold War landscape, which was one of the largest US Air Force bases in Europe, survives to tell its story for future generations.

Whilst English Heritage does not object to plans for 1,075 houses with community facilities on the 540 hectare site proposed by the owners, North Oxfordshire Consortium, it still has concerns about aspects of the redevelopment scheme.

English Heritage is seeking to:

• Ensure the retention and sensitive reuse of all the reinforced Hardened Aircraft Shelters and other historic structures on the flying field to guarantee their long term management and maintenance.
• Ensure any commercial activity on the site does not harm the former RAF base which has been designated as a Conservation Area.

English Heritage Team Leader for Oxfordshire, Nigel Barker, is giving evidence at the inquiry. He said: “The first time that you see the striking shelters provided to protect the F-111 fighters and you have an opportunity to look down the length of the central runway which is two miles long at Heyford, and stretches as far as the horizon, you begin to realise how threatened we felt as a society in the Cold War period. This is a site that has served as a military airfield for over 80 years and has left us a legacy in the form of a distinctive Cold War landscape that is not easily forgotten. We are seeking to ensure that it can remain, not as a museum, but as a distinctive place capable of re-use to help fund the management and maintenance of the flying field for future generations.”

For this reason, English Heritage supports the proposal by North Oxfordshire Consortium to re-use many of the historic structures in the flying field in a ‘low key storage use’ or any other appropriate use. This could involve using the Hardened Aircraft Shelters as a storage depot for paper records or as a remote archive for various companies and organisations.

North Oxfordshire Consortium’s plans for the creation of a Cold War Park, which include the retention of the four Hardened Aircraft Shelters in the northwest part of the site, is an opportunity to let the public see the scale of investment that went into defending the West from a possible Soviet threat in the Cold War period, and are welcomed by English Heritage.

However, they are just one of a number of proposals that will require careful management if the heritage resources and wildlife interests on the site are to be successfully integrated with the new settlement that is being created.

The inquiry is being held at Bodicote House in Banbury and is scheduled to finish on 24th October 2008.