Building news met with mixed reactions
Published: 23 October 2007
Service personnel are set to benefit from improved accommodation, following the opening of a state-of-the-art barracks.
The new 28-building complex, situated at Tidworth garrison, includes 452 single en-suite bedrooms, which will house soldiers from 2 Royal Tank Regiment who have recently returned from Germany.
The barracks is the first development to be delivered under Project 'Allenby Connaught' – a 35-year-long redevelopment programme worth £8 billion.
Defence Secretary Des Browne, who attended the barracks opening, said: "There has been a legacy of under-funding in Armed Forces housing: this new accommodation exemplifies the way that is changing.
"I am very impressed by the scale of what has been achieved under Project Allenby Connaught so far, delivered both on budget and on time."
However, other service personnel are concerned that they could miss out on vital funds needed for home repairs, after it was announced that only half the profits made from the recent sale of Chelsea Barracks would go towards military accommodation.
Chancellor Alistair Darling recently promised that £550 million from the £900 million sale of the property would be used to improve troops’ living quarters,
However, the announcement has been met with outrage by members of the service community, who say every penny should be put into improving forces accommodation.
The current state of accommodation has been publicly condemned by many senior military officials, including Col Douglas Young, Chairman of the British Armed Forces Federation.
Col Young said: "It really is outrageous if the windfall is not used for accommodation when everybody knows – and the Government itself has admitted – that there is an urgent need for single people's accommodation to be upgraded."
