RAF Coltishall needs your support

[Jaybaxter99]

You may be aware of the proposals by Norfolk County Council to rip out the runway at former RAF Coltishall, thus ending any opportunity to restore flying to the only WW2 consistant fighter base, original home of the EE Lightning and Jaguar fighters, and others!
Residents (including myself) of the former quarters have formed a protection committee working with local parish councils, 3rd parties interested in preserving and renewing the existing building, infrastructure and preserving one of the major features of the site; the runway and all it signifies. We are delighted to report that the 'Spirit of Coltishall Association', set up to recognise and appreciate all that is good about the former station by many of those who served there, has just announced that it, too,recognises the importance of the preservation of the heritage features, including the heart of the base, its runway.
'This is probably the last opportunity to preserve an RAF Expansion Period station with such a rich and significant history ranging from the Battle of Britain, through the Cold War, to recent operational activity such as Bosnia and the Gulf Wars – it must be grasped and developed commercially in a way sympathetic to the site’s heritage' (SoCA)
The Council is looking to buy the base and asset strip the runway for a new distributor road towards the north of Norwich, a route for which also dissects the City of Norwich Aviation Museum, on the corner of former RAF Horsham St Faiths, now Norwich International Airport! Followers of a similar move at RAF Greenham Common will remember the years of noise, dust, traffic movements etc and more years of decontamination. RAF Coltishall is a much more rural setting, with much worse infrastructure but greater density of local inhabitants and ecology/environmental factors involved, sitting as it does on a major natural aquifer.
I would urge anyone with concerns or who wish to support the protection of the base to email the campaign committee at badersfieldcam@hotmail.co.uk and we will send more details to you direct. SoCA's website is http://www.spiritofcoltishall.org.