THE defence of the economy of the Uists began in earnest yesterday when the task force set up to fight Ministry of Defence plans to axe 125 jobs at the Hebrides missile range met for the first time on Benbecula. A job advert for a project manager to "dismantle" the Benbecula missile test range has been posted, despite the MoD insisting no decision has been made. Today, the site consists of Deep Range for complex weapons trials & in-service firings and an Inner Range for ground-based air defence campaigns. In 1996, the June 17 edition of the Daily Record carried an article relating to the completion of work to update the range and its facilities, suggesting that "Britain wants friendly foreign military men to test their missiles in South Uist to help pay for a recent 14 million facelift to the rocket range in the Outer Hebridean islands". A trust spokeswoman said: "We're delighted that the proposal to de-staff St Kilda has been abandoned, along with the plans to reduce staff on Benbecula and the Uists. VideoWhy we know so little about the battle for Kherson, Scholz in China calls for economic ties 'as equals', The conspiracy theorists who could run US elections, Why the latest UN climate conference matters. The lone policeman who tried to stem the Seoul crush, Aboriginal boy's killing puts spotlight on racism, Billions being spent in metaverse land grab. South Uist Rocket Range West Camp - an army base at Balivanich, Benbecula - would remain open but one accommodation block would close, reducing the need for domestic staff. The radar station on Hirta - the largest island on St Kilda - tracks missiles test fired from ranges in the Western Isles. Gentleman is the Minister of Defence. Group of buildings constructed between early 1970s and 1980s. Mr. Hector Hughes: Nine positions have already been axed and another seven are believed to be at risk at the Hebrides Range on South Uist. Fiction: non-fiction. Can he give an assurance that it was not any of the Ministers in the last Labour Government? The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said an announcement concerning the sites would be made on Wednesday. Colin Chance. The MoD plans to scale back its operations at a key missile test range on the Western Isles of Scotland, leaving the Armed Forces with just one missile testing range in the entire UK. West Camp - an Army base at Balivanich, Benbecula - would remain open but one accommodation block would close , reducing the need for domestic staff. Local councillor Peter Carlin, who runs a laundry business near the base, said: "Forty to sixty per cent of our business comes from the MoD so it will affect my own business in a big way. I note that the MoD say they will consider workable alternatives and that is a task everyone must look at closely. During June 2009, the MoD issued an announcement that it would be scaling back on its operation at the South Uist missile range, with closure anticipated by 2014: MoD to close key missile testing siteThursday, June 18, 2009. google_ad_channel = ''; Rocket trials would run instead from Aberporth in Wales using new technology. An advert for a project manager to "downgrade " the Benbecula missile . In the period 2001/2002, the Benbecula Airport was reported to have benefited from a 500,000 upgrade, completed in readiness for its participation in the Eurofighter Typhoon test project. NPS. "I note that the MoD say they will consider workable alternatives and that is a task everyone must look at closely.". The move is being made in conjunction with QinetiQ which runs the missile test range. Gentleman also say whether the Ministry of Supply bears any responsibility for this scheme? Cuts are being made as part of an effort by the MoD to make 50m savings. I should say that it is anticipation, not necessarily correct. Mr Davies plans to visit St Kilda today and tomorrow will meet with members of a task force set up to fight the proposals. Can the right hon. Elior UK said: "We can confirm that nine Elior employees have been made redundant following consultations to determine the level of catering required for the scaled-back facilities at the West Camp.". "This is the right decision for the right reasons and a victory for common sense," the minister said. Sound: sound. Advertisement. A barrier to expansion is the terms of the contract between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and contractor QinetiQ, which are too restrictive, the taskforce said. Mr MacMillan said he hoped a meeting between Mr Davies and those campaigning to save the threatened jobs would convince the minister to abandon the plan, or allow more time to consider the cuts. June 18, 2009, BBC NEWS | Scotland | Fuel, food and jobs still key. To ask the Minister of Defence if he will now make a full statement about the proposed changes in the Western Isles guided-missiles scheme. Gentleman should await the full statement which I hope to make. Video, Why we know so little about the battle for Kherson, 'Go back to Africa' remark halts French parliament, Trump drops strong hint about 2024 White House run, Twitter to make job cuts after Musk takeover, The Albanian gangs luring migrants to the UK, Dutch wolves to be paintballed to scare them away, Imran Khan: Shock at attack on Pakistan ex-PM, Kyrie Irving suspended over anti-Semitic posts. It earns the reputation of World's fastest cruise missile. - Hansard, March 13, 1957. [^Hansard, March 13, 1957. Does not the right hon. The 14 crew were rescued but there were concerns about the risk posed by its fuel and cargo of fish. Mr. Ward: "These are tough decisions to make but the financial reasons for making the changes are compelling, and we do hope this will secure a long-term future for operations on the Hebrides and other ranges in Scotland," he told MPs. SNP MP Angus MacNeil said he was seeking clarification from the UK Government and QinetiQ on what was planned for the sites. I was glad that when I was Minister of Supply I had the opportunity to bring the atomic scheme to Dounreay, in the very northernmost part of the Highlands. "These figures expose the lie of the Labour government's claim that they support defence jobs north of the border. Whilst versions of the AN/FPS-117 are capable of detecting ballistic missiles the Type 92 does have this capability but is only used for detecting aircraft. The Minister of Defence (Mr. Duncan Sandys): Group chairman Angus Campbell said Mr Murphy was well aware about the impact of staff reductions would have on jobs and the islands economy. - Hansard, December 4, 1957. [^ROCKET RANGE, THE HEBRIDES (Hansard, 4 December 1957)^], HANSARD 18032005 1950s 1957 December 1957 4 December 1957 Written Answers (Commons) MINISTRY OF DEFENCE The proposed modernisation of the range would see 125 of 215 jobs cut as a result of the radar station on Hirta in St Kilda being operated remotely, with staff only visiting for maintenance and servicing. asked the Minister of Supply what expenditure had been incurred by his Department on South Uist Rocket Range. SSGT Served from 1966 - 1981 Served in Royal Artillery Ranges Benbecula. The taskforce set up to fight the cuts - part of plans aimed at saving about 50m - has already met Mr Murphy. The events inspired the book Rockets Galore (1957) by author and nationalist Compton Mackenzie (Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, January 17, 1883 November 30,1972), as a sequel to his earlier success, Whisky Galore (1947), also inspired by a true event (the grounding of the SS Politician, and the subsequent raid on its consignment of 24,000 cases of whisky), both of which became successful films. If the hon. On Wednesday the MoD announced a series of proposed changes to how its ranges operate. Mr. Sandys: Here is a snapshot of reaction and comment so far: Defence Minister Quentin Davies: "I know that this will be very disappointing news for the staff at our ranges, and I do not underestimate the impact these proposals and job losses will have on the Hebrides community, especially in the current recession. 15 million. If you wish to have an entry, then please email me at alan@explorescotland.net, Copyright Explore Scotland 2020 About 75% of these birds could be lost if there is a big reduction in the amount of crofting.". Mr. Taylor: - Hansard, December 4, 1957. [^Rocket Range, The Hebrides (Hansard, 4 December 1957)^], HANSARD 18032005 1950s 1957 December 1957 9 December 1957 Commons Sitting MINISTRY OF SUPPLY The Missile Testing Range was built by the Royal Air Force between 1957 and 1958 to launch the Corporal Missile, Britain and America's first guided Nuclear Weapon. The variants were designed for firing from silo-based launch sites. I hope to be able to make a full statement shortly. The airfield built during World War II became the control centre for the Hebrides rocket range, established during the Cold War and is now Benbecula Airport. He added: "We can confirm that our catering contractor, Elior, has now concluded its work to determine the resourcing requirement for its management of the scaled-back facilities.". In a statement, he said he had been impressed by the arguments for saving the sites. We need not argue about that. There is a programme for apprentices. I can only imagine that the hon. I hope that one of the effects of this change of plan will be, as I said in my statement, to reduce the extent of the disturbance to the local life of the community, about which there was so much protest when the scheme was announced. On October 27, 1955, I asked the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, whether Her Majesty's Government could indicate the sites which were examined for a guided missile range in the North West of Scotland and the Hebrides, other than on the Island of South Uist, and whether they could state the results of such examinations. "The firing range and control station will remain, these 125 jobs will stay, because ultimately while the MoD may have made some savings, the cost to the islands, the islands' families and the economy would have been too great. Is the right hon. "These are tough decisions to make but the financial reasons for making the changes are compelling, and we do hope this will secure a long term future for operations on the Hebrides and other ranges in Scotland. Is not the real reason that the Minister and his predecessor decided that defence considerations were so overriding such a short time ago that they could not even give time for a proper inquiry, and that what has changed that enables them, equally vehemently, to say. Mid level cloud: 23% . The base in the Western Isles is managed by QinetiQ under an arrangement set up in 2001. However, this number declined in 2008 by 8% to 1,140. Defence Minister Quentin Davies said: "I know that this will be very disappointing news for the staff at our ranges, and I do not underestimate the impact these proposals and job losses will have on the Hebrides community, especially in the recession. Since then, annual counts have shown that the population increase continued throughout the 2000s, and in 2007 the population in its Scottish strongholds hit a high of more than 1,270 calling males. QinetiQ, a leading science and engineering company, the contractors operating the Hebrides Range on behalf of its owners the MoD, will invest approximately 60 million in modern tracking. Maximum range of operational missiles in Russia 2021. While officially the Hebrides range will remain open, trials will be controlled remotely and as a result the command and control centre on South Uist and one of the accommodation blocks at West Camp in Balivanich will close. The Hebrides Range Taskforce has now called for the trialling of unmanned aerial vehicles to be fully embraced. BBC NEWS | Scotland | Highlands and Islands | Rocket range fate to be announced, BBC NEWS | Scotland | Highlands and Islands | Islands rocket range jobs 'saved', BBC NEWS | Scotland | Highlands and Islands | Call to open up range to drones, BBC News - Marketing campaign for Uist range, BBC News - Torpedo site job cuts withdrawn, BBC News - Hebrides Range 'ideal' for testing civilian drones, BBC News - Future of UK's largest missile range secure says MoD, BBC News - Defence minister Peter Luff visits Hebrides Range, Future of Scots missile range secured by 1bn MoD deal, Millions to be invested in Hebrides weapons range - BBC News, Rocket fired from Scottish isle destroyed in space - BBC News, Jobs under threat at missile test site in Western Isles - STV News, Job cuts at UK's largest missile range - BBC News, Geirinis Feature Page on Undiscovered Scotland, Summary of Hansard proceedings from 1957, includes many South Uist items, BBC News, video. Is he now saying that that is entirely inaccurate? Staff were also to be pulled out of the range's tracking station on Hirta, St Kilda, and West Camp on Benbecula was to be downgraded. Official sources insisted that no decision had ever been made to close the missile range, but the Western Isles is a marginal seat held by the Scottish National party with a 1,441 majority. Callander and the Trossachs The site is linked to the Radar tracking station on St Kilda ( NF19NW 63 ). Quite a number of factors have made this change possible but, in the scope of a supplementary answer, I will mention only two. Spaceport 1 joined forces with East Anglian firm Gravitilab Aerospace Services to launch the flight test vehicle, named after Ada Lovelace, the 19th century English mathematician who is considered the world's first computer programmer. Western Isles - command centre to close, radar station controlled remotely with about 125 job losses This facility, based at RAF Benbecula nearby, is run by QinetiQ for a number of clients, including the MoD and BAe Systems. I can certainly assure the hon. Plans to cut jobs at a missile range and its associated sites on the Western Isles have been abandoned, the Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has said. Mr. Sandys: "It could be used for the development of military UAVs, but also those for a huge civilian market. If it wasn't for the fight put up by the taskforce, the Hebrides range could have become another victim of this 'cut and shut' approach. Apart from letters from a few individuals in other parts of Great Britain, notice of a resolution by an area council of the Scottish National Party and a telegram from the Scottish Covenant Association, I have received no other representations since detailed plans for the range were circulated to the local authorities and other bodies last summer. That's the level of impact you are talking about. The affected staff are security guards, cleaners, stewards and administrators sub-contracted to QinetiQ, a private firm which runs the range for the MoD. Long range weather outlook for Benbecula includes 14 day forecast summary: Day Local Time Dir Speed/ Gust Temp/ Feels Like Humidity Pressure Cloud Amount Precip Amount Weather; Tue 25 Oct: 00:00: SW. 21 / 31 mph 54 / 48F 90%: 996 mb Low level cloud: 52%. The ranges and a tracking station on St Kilda are used for the testing of weapons systems, including the Rapier surface-to-air missile defence. This review has confirmed the need for a range in the Hebrides for surface-to-surface rockets. Fears that the closure was imminent had appeared to be confirmed yesterday when it emerged that the site's operator, QinetiQ, had posted an internal advertisement for a project manager to "dismantle" the range by 2014. Following a successful campaaign - see below for more details - to retain the range after its closure was announced during 2009, references to the testing range made by the media reflected its name as The Hebrides Range. Read about our approach to external linking. Defence minister Quentin Davies is due to announce his decision on downsizing the range's workforce this month. He said: "The biggest constraint is the contract between QinetiQ and the MoD which only allows for savings and not for looking at other alternatives for expanding the facility for example and look at profits that could be generated. 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