Plans to house asylum seekers at RAF Scampton have been axed as the Home Office has decided the site is not value for money.
Opening the site from this autumn as planned would have cost a total of £122m by the end of its use in 2027, and £60m has already been spent on the site.
This change in direction has been welcomed by the Leader of West Lindsey District Council, Cllr Trevor Young, who said: “We have always been clear that the best use for this historic, key strategic asset was to unlock the potential to drive economic growth and prosperity in our place, for Lincolnshire and beyond.
“Today we can finally put to bed an incredibly difficult period for our community and focus time, energy and resource on this once in a generation opportunity to honour the heritage of this site through regeneration and the delivery of investment in jobs and skills.
“The Council now look forward to finalising plans with SHL which have necessarily had to pause whilst the issues played out. We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support and commitment from SHL, and the patience they have shown us, whilst working through the issues. We hope that our collaboration can now accelerate at pace.”
Peter Hewitt, Chairman of Scampton Holdings Limited said: “We must now put this period behind us, roll up our sleeves and work together to unlock the true potential of Scampton for generations to come.
“We look forward to concluding our contract with West Lindsey District Council and moving into a period where we can work both with investors and the local community to achieve something very special in the defence, air and space sector in this unique corner of Lincolnshire.”
Sally Grindrod-Smith, Director of Planning, Regeneration and Communities for the Council said: “Work will now progress at pace to conclude the necessary contracting arranging and secure formal, long term access to the site. In the meantime, it will be important to work with the Home Office to ensure any works already completed on site can be decommissioned and removed sensitively so as to protect the heritage of the site’.
Work to close the site will begin immediately with the sale happening in line with the process for disposing of Crown land.
