Mr T Richards,
Head of Planning Services,
Borough Council Offices,
Harrogate. HG1 2AU
Dear Sir,
Re: Menwith Hill USA National Security Agency Spy Base, Harrogate
DoE Circular 18/84: Notice of Proposed Development:
Planning Application: 6.90.326 CROWND: Post Exchange Facility: 6.90.327 CROWND: Canopy to AAFES Gas Station
:
We wish to submit objections to the applications on the following grounds:
The Post Exchange Facility is a major development, comprising a large supermarket and restaurant with ancillary extensive car parks, delivery yard and loading bays,
offices, kitchens, rest rooms, etc.
The proposals are evidently part of the ongoing infrastructure developments, designed to accommodate a massive increase in Station personnel. The plans are being
submitted piece by piece in order to counter the opposition there would be to an all-in-one package. This is the 24th (twenty-fourth) application in recent months. The
Director of the NSA, Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden, has visited Menwith Hill and inspected development sites. There are more plans to follow.
Considered as a whole, the plans amount to substantial development. The whole package should be subjected to an Environmental Impact Assessment. The PX plan alone would
justify EIA.
This development and that of the Contractors' Compound on the other side of Nessfield Road, constitute a major expansion of the built up area of Menwith Hill Station.
Both of these developments will be located on gathering ground for Swinsty Reservoir, the Leeds/Otley water supply. Concern about possible contamination has been raised
in the past. The Environment Agency should be made aware of these plans and the site surveying to the south.
The area for development of the PX Store is described in the plans as 'an area of rough grassland'. This is misleading. The site is that of Nessfield House, a Grade Two
Listed Building (?), which was demolished without consent by the USA National Security Agency. The 'rough grassland' is the 'lost garden' of Nessfield House, comprising
the terraces, overgrown lawns and large ornamental trees. Much of the debris from the demolition is still on the ground. Other evidence from the Menwith Hill site
suggests that it was an area of historic occupation. We believe that there should also be an Archaeological Impact Assessment prior to granting clearance for this
development.
The plans fail to state that the development will require felling of established mature woodland.
We have complained that the Grounds Maintenance Staff has used the area as a rubbish dump for some years. Complaints have been ignored. Where will they dump their
rubbish? In the wood?
The site plan misleadingly depicts trees on the opposite side of Nessfield Road, but fails to show that this area will be the built up Contractors' Compound, thus
minimising the visual impact.
The development must impact on the area into which the orchid colony has spread. The rarity and sensitivity of the Menwith Hill orchids is thoroughly documented in the
Planning Office files. In late 1999, the security fence was re-aligned to avoid the orchids in the area of the NW corner Orchid Reserve, as a conservation measure. It was
also pulled back from the boundary of the base in the area between the defunct Commissary Gate and Nessfield Gate, in consideration of the fact that the orchids had
spread and colonised the road verge and woodland edge on the east side of the B6451. This appears to be within the proposed PX car parking area. A survey of the orchids'
sites, during the flowering season, should be undertaken prior to granting carte blanche consent.
The building materials for dark brown brick walls, roofed with 'mineral faced profile metal tiles (to give the appearance of a traditional clay or concrete roof)' are in
totally inappropriate contradiction to traditional Dales farm buildings. Nor is the concession of artificial 'clay or concrete' roof a recognised feature of the English
Landscape. The Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty boundary is only about 100m from this proposed PX Facility. Menwith Hill was excluded from the AONB on the
grounds that it is ugly, but there is no reason for the local authority to countenance another eyesore development. We no longer need to make recommendations for
artificial thatched roofs or tacked-on plastic oak beams and ivy -the NSA's doing it without being facetious!
Harrogate Borough Council welcomes the presence of Menwith Hill NSA Spy Base in its district because it is said to benefit the local economy. The PX Facility will have a
detrimental effect on the amount of cash that is spent in the Harrogate shops. The USA personnel are not going to shop at local supermarkets, where they have to pay
British Value Added Tax. Nor do they pay any tax on petrol at the AAFES Gas Station, which benefits neither the national, nor the local economy.
In spite of their overall approval, the Harrogate Borough Council and the North Yorkshire County Council have expressed concern that the Base is a target for 'terrorists'
and represents a threat to the people of their locality. Perhaps when the cash stops flowing in their direction, the local people may have a less tolerant attitude
towards the Base. In reality there is a hidden cash flow in the opposite direction. The Council Taxpayers of North Yorkshire now have to foot a substantial part of the
bill for the policing at Menwith Hill, highways' maintenance and other essential services for the NSA.
Finally we'd be very interested to know why the Ground Floor site plan actually depicts fittings and fixtures and shows what goods will be stacked on which shelves! The
US NSA doesn't require the Council's permission to build, but it would be less contemptuous if they maintained the appearance that the public's comments and the Council's
recommendations were taken into consideration.
We trust that this large-scale development, with all its environmental and archaeological implications, will not be determined by the Chief Planning Officer under
delegated legislation, without discussion by the Planning Committee. It ought to be investigated by a Public Inquiry.
