At another blog, I have been asked the following questions by ‘MH’:
Tony, I have no wish to talk about global warming here, but I would appreciate two things:
1. Can you substantiate how busy the airfield was before? How many flights a day and roughly how big the planes were? Obviously no-one cares about what things were like in the war, but how things were over the 10 or 20 years before it closed.
2. Can you tell what restrictions have been imposed (either through Planning Regulations or as part of the lease) on either the number, size or type of planes that can use the airfield now … or if there are night restrictions?
In the six years between 1998 and 2004, when QinetiQ ceased to operate from Llanbedr Airfield, there were 53,000 aerodrome and 14,000 radar movements. The types being used were Jindivik, Hawk, Alpha Jet, Canberra, Meteor and Sea Vixen, all jets. There was also a small twin prop aircraft used for a ‘milk run’ round other RAE and similar establishments and army helicopters visited, often at night. It is worth adding that operations were being run down during the latter part of this period so that dividing the movements by the number of years is not a reliable method of estimating peak activity.
At times the payroll has been over 200, although it was significantly lower than this by the time that QuinetQ gave up the contract in 2004. When I spoke to Kemble recently they were thinking in terms of ten jobs directly connected with flying. Others will be created by related activities.
This is what they told the Daily Post about their intentions:
Its [Kemble’s] proposals for Llanbedr include reopening the airfield to civilian and possibly military aircraft, letting premises on the site for both aerospace and non- aerospace uses, and promoting the site for a number of other specialist activities ranging from product launches to film and television location shoots, vehicle testing and tourism-related events.
When members of the Kemble Team visited the area recently they confirmed this.
So far as planning permission is concerned, I understand from the WAG that Kemble are entitled to continue the established usages of the airfield.
The sale brochure for the airfield gives the following information about tenure:
It will be a requirement that the purchaser operates the\property as a commercial airfield with other ancillary commercial uses being permitted. The property will, therefore, be offered for sale by way of a 125 year long leasehold interest with covenants to ensure the required uses are complied with.
Also, it will be a condition that Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flying is accommodated at the site and it is likely that one of the buildings on site will be identified to be made available on commercial terms for UAV operators requiring premises for campaign testing and research and development activities.
I do not know whether there are any other conditions in the lease.
Night flying did occasionally take place in the past but, given the staffing level that Kemble are talking about, round the clock operation would seem rather unlikely. I have not asked them about this.
Incidentally, one of the more irritating aspects of the Snowdonia Society’s campaign to try and prevent Kemble taking over is that they constantly refer to Llanbedr Airfield as Llanbedr Airport. The term airport has not been used in the past and it would seem unlikely that it will become appropriate in the foreseeable future. Whether the Snowdonia Society are simply unaware of the correct name for the establishment that they are protesting about, or whether they simply want to give the impression that a new Heathrow is about to be created in the national park, I do not know. What is certain is that it is not doing their reputation in this part of Wales much good
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