Mr T Richards,
Head of Planning Services,
Department of Technical Services,
Borough Council Offices,
Harrogate. HG1 2AU

Dear Sir,

Re: Menwith Hill US National Security Agency SIGINT Station:

Notice of Proposed Development : 6.99.143CROWND:
Access Road and Maintenance Workshop 36m X 17m X 8m, located between 36R and TACO antenna mast.

Retrospective application:
So that's what the devious US NSA bees are up to in the area of the TACO antenna! Well. Well. Well. These large-scale excavation activities have been mystifying us for a couple of weeks. Mystery solved. We were just about to report it to you, as an unauthorised development, not that you have taken a scrap of notice of our similar observations in the past.

Expansion of built-up area of the Base:
This proposal, for expansion of the built-up area of the Base to the E, should be assessed in conjunction with the evidence of Menwith Hill's expansion to the W - the Post Exchange (i.e. supermarket) Facility and new Contractors' Compound plus workshops. The high density of the existing built-up area is such that there is now very little space for in-fill development.

The Significance of the Plans:
The proposed Maintenance Workshop is isolated from other structures in the Operations area. It appears to be the inception of a new development phase. It is evidently not, because of its location, the ancillary support building for the GT7 golf ball radome (yet to be constructed) which was omitted from the original plans.

We believe this 'Maintenance Workshop' is intended as the first component of further expansion of Space Based Infra Red System (SBIRS) commonly known as 'Star Wars'.  
We anticipate that SBIRS will expand to the East. When Cable and Wireless installed the SBIRS fibre-optic cables, a section of fibre-optic cable duct was excavated alongside the E of the Base. It terminates at a point on the highway verge, perpendicular to this development. In 1998, when the SBIRS fibre-optic cable was installed, this E section was not connected to any installations in the Base. If this cable is now connected to the 'Maintenance Workshop', it will confirm its 'Star Wars' purpose.

The Right to Know:
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, however, the public has the right to be provided with (and the local authority has the duty to provide) honest and accurate information. When a development is in progress, it is dishonest if the Council's Planning Department's advertisements do not properly provide that information. When the development is wholly or partially completed, it is misrepresentation to inform the public that any observations they make will be taken into consideration, before the Council makes its (inevitable 'no objections') decision. How can any observations be considered if the development is a fait accompli? If the Planning department has knowingly withheld the information it has deceived the public. This is not only negligent failure to comply with the Law; it is deliberate, culpable contravention.

In May 2001, the Harrogate Borough Council wrote to the Prime Minister and asked for information about what was going on at Menwith Hill and also its future role and the implications, particularly of the 'Star Wars' SBIRS, for the Harrogate District. A meeting between Executives of the Ministry of Defence and a delegation from Harrogate Council was held in London in October 2001. The Harrogate Councillors were given assurances that they would be consulted before any plans for future major developments were introduced.

Since then there have been 26 proposals for expansion of the Base infrastructure. Not one of these, including plans for major developments, has been discussed at a Council Planning Committee Meeting. The elected Councillors have a right to know the facts and a duty to present those facts, and their response to them, to the electorate. Is the Council failing to address the public's concern about the developments at Menwith Hill?

Notice of Proposed Development 6.90.328.CROWND: Erection of Community Conference Centre:

We are in receipt of your letter dated 5 March 2003, which informs us that

'…your representations relating to the above application were taken into account in reaching the decision on the proposal…'

It is evident that you do not read our letters. We made NO representations, because we believed the application to be retrospective and that the Community Conference Centre was erected some time before your advertisement invited us to submit comments.

The Right to Know:
I applied to the Ministry of Defence Police at Menwith Hill for escorted access to the development site in order to verify that our suspicions were correct. MoD Police Superintendent Craddock passed my request to the Menwith Hill Station US NSA authorities. They ignored it as usual. By doing so, they deliberately withheld from the public the information, which the public has a right to know.

US NSA exempt from compliance with UK Law:
US National Security Agency employees at Menwith Hill are technically under the command of Colonel Randolph Roberts of the US Army's Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). Under section 16(2), Part 1, of the State Immunity Act 1978, a foreign State is immune from the jurisdiction of the English courts, when its military personnel are engaged in the sovereign activities of their State - in this case, the United States Federal Government.

The US NSA at Menwith Hill is thus exempt from compliance with the UK Freedom of Information Act, or Planning Law procedures. The US NSA's Directorate of Installations ((DI) is not subject to the Harrogate Borough Council's Planning Department, nor the Defence Estates' Organisation, nor the Secretary of State for Defence, nor even the Queen in Council, although Menwith Hill occupies 'Crown' land. The DI is answerable to the US INSCOM Base Commander, who is answerable to the Director of the NSA, at Fort Meade in Maryland, USA.

The Community Conference Centre site is not visible from any point, external to the Base, from which we attempted to view it. Our belief that it had already been erected prior to the publication of the Planning Department's advertisement, was derived from a statement on the Site Plan: ISSUE PHASE: AS BUILT. We should appreciate your comments on the interpretation of this statement.

Notice of Proposed Development 6.500.229CROWND: Removal of underground fuel storage tanks and installation of replacement above ground fuel storage tanks.

We are in receipt of your department's letter dated 24 February 2003, which states:

'Thank you for letting me know about the equipment being in place in order to carry out the above development.

As yet I have received no additional information as requested in my observations to the Ministry of Defence and shall take up the issue with Defence Estates.'

The Right to Know:
In light of past experience relating to the pollution problems created by the USA Visiting Forces at Greenham Common, Menwith Hill and other Bases, the US NSA's disregard of the Environment Agency's recommendations is typical.

We have the right to know if the Harrogate Borough Council or the Environment Agency has any power to impose their recommendations. There is a possibility that the project could cause environmental damage, which would have consequences for the population outside the Base.

Remedy and redress:
If a contamination emergency arises as a result of this project, we presume it will be the incumbent on the Harrogate Borough Council to contain it within the boundary of Menwith Hill. We have the right to know if the US NSA is responsible for remedy or redress.

There is justification for our statement that the Base is out of control of any UK local or national authorities. There is not only no control over its activities, there is no limit to its expansion.

Yours sincerely,