Slimy councillor eyes Coltishall runway

The trouble is that public money was used to block a private purchase by a company who did see a future for the airfield. I seem to remember that the councillor behind this was the same one who in a past role arranged the use of public money to buy a golf course. Add the fact that the NDR ploughs through the site of the City of Norwich aviation museum and you have a double whammy. 😡

The thing is, nobody knows what the future holds. It’s possible that in years
to come, there may be a need for these airfields again. Although I don’t
know where the aircraft will come from.

One thing they could be handy for, is being used for learner drivers to train
before going out on the open road.

If the RAF don’t see a future use for this or any other aerodrome then I can’t see the slightest reason why it shouldn’t be built on. As has been said there is no possible use for Coltishall as a GA airfield and if it were converted to industrial or domestic purposes then it would have a good future providing homes or jobs. It just isn’t possible to preserve everything!

Regards

I doubt Colt will end up as a housing estate. Its in the middle of nowhere,
Bruce

That pretty much sums up the entire County…. 😉

The problem with rhe preservation of airfields for primarily, GA use, is too much supply chasing too little demand.

I was talking to someone involved with the future of Coltishall, and he was saying that they want to
keep the base as intact as possible.
Apparently there is still an unused Jaguar Flight Simulator there.

He was also saying that on the 15th of this month, those who are interested, may see some AAC Gazelles exercising there.

Amazingly its nearly seven years since the RAF ceased flying from RAF Coltishall.

The sale to Norfolk Council will at least stop the further decay of the buildings as new uses are found for them. I read somewhere that they plan a ‘heritage trail’ that will be able to be walked around some of the most historic features of the station. No plans for a full museum, but likely to be a small building with a display of photographs.

I was lucky to have friends who were based at Coltishall and be able to attend a number of social events there. Not been to many airfields with the atmosphere that Coltishall had. Even my feet didn’t feel that they were in contact with the ground!! Sounds silly and romantic, but true.

All signed and sealed now.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/raf_coltishall_sale_to_norfolk_county_council_is_sealed_1_1788926

I doubt Colt will end up as a housing estate. Its in the middle of nowhere, with, as has been said, poor transport links.

Mizpah’s summary is a good one.

Bruce

Mizpah sums it up.

We can’t preserve everything and Coltishall is short on potential.

Who remembers the attempts made to convert Bentwaters into an aircraft maintenance / business aviation park, scuppered by the luvvies of Snape?

And now Bourn has had its first public warning.

Like the veterans, they get fewer.

Here’s the main on the day Coltishall officially closed.

Norfolk County Council do not own Norwich Airport, they and co-owners Norwich City Council sold the airport operation to Omniport some years back.

The two councils do still own some land to the north of Norwich Airport, some of this land is rented out to Omniport. If it is ever built, the Norwich NDR will skirt the Airport taking some of the land which was part of RAF Horsham St Faith/Norwich Airport, but not sold to Omniport.

Coltishall has very poor road access and one of the reasons it may end up being sold to Norfolk County Council is that it has very poor commercial business/industrial potential. There are many better positioned empty units (and sadly likely to be even more) on industrial estates in locations that are more central to major road networks. My guess as to its future, runway removed if NDR built, Norfolk County Council moves many of its own ‘business’ to Coltishall and sell off some of the numerous premises they presently operate from. There is already an bio energy plant planned in the area, an application for a seventy acre solar farm in the immediate area. The firm I work for looked hard at a part of Coltishall, but it was just not workable due to its location and the high cost of transport to and from the site.

Yet another housing estate here we come!
Well, we have to put all the new arrivals from the rest of the planet somewhere I suppose.
Or maybe the council will raise some quick cash by selling it to Germany for use as a wind farm.

For those who want to try and get some images of Colt before it goes act soon, I now understand it has all been sealed, signed and the end is in sight for the runway, the council HAVE got it and I fear the worst for the base. sad times as another Battle of Britain station goes.

WADR not all Councils should be viewed in such a way….

Lincolnshire County Council – http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=118925

Plus the excellent support that Newark Air Museum received from Nottinghamshire County Council for their Education DVD and the recent Aviation in Nottinghamshire booklets. (Cannot find the links to these for here – yes I’ve tried other search methods!) 😮

I’m not sure about all the aspects surrounding Coltishall but in my experience of dealing with planning matters (and several Planning Objections) – the key is work with them, not against them. The last government introduced legislation to re-classify airfields as Brownfield Sites and I for one lobbied against it and received a ‘stock-reply’ from John Prescott MP’s department.

Also don’t forget that former airfield runways being ‘recycled for roads’ is nothing new:

RAF Balderton’s runways ended up at the foundations when the A1 was duelled in the early 1960s

Some of RAF Winthorpe’s taxiways ended up in the foundations of the A17 bypass in the mid-1980s

Some of RAF Bircotes taxiways ended up in the Southfield Site hardstanding areas at NAM

Grasping Councils.

I have to say that I have very little confidence in councils in general. They seem to be models of waste, inneficiency and sloth. They have long regarded all airfields as ‘Brownfield’ development sites.

How different to the attitude of local authorities in the 1930’s, when they were all ‘airminded’, and falling-over each other to open new municipal aerodromes….:rolleyes:

Developers put around a lot of very strong ‘incentives’. Supermarkets will shamelessly put pressure on schools to sell-off their playing fields for another store. It all stinks, and is a modern malaise that has long been left unaddressed.

It is somewhat worrying that Norfolk County Council apparently disrupted a legitimate bidding process, where a private bidder had already reached an agreement to acquire the site and maintain the runway.

I am sure the local residents would far prefer an occassional aircraft movement than fleets of lorries heading in and out if the aggregate extraction goes ahead and the hangars used for warehousing. There is also a big question-mark on using hangars for warehousing on most airfields as their floors and foundations are not designed to handle the high loads of palletised storage.

Could an underlying reason be that the County Council already owns the underperforming Norwich Airport, which has failed to meet any of their overoptimistic expansion plans – and that this is as much a move to protect that business monopoly, as it is about the future of Coltishall?

It would be nice to see the airfield left intact. Even if buildings were put over to commercial use.
It would be a great place for driving schools to take learner drivers too.

Come on boys thats old news,:) This was first mentioned in the EDP. Weds 27th June.

This is the latest idea.

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/solar_panels_idea_for_former_raf_coltishall_runway_1_1492646

It’s not imagination it’s whats in the plain brown envelope that counts.