Would incoming missiles shot down over Nidderdale distribute radioactive wreckage?
Would Menwith Hill become a terrorist target if Son of Star Wars programme goes ahead?
How much protection will Harrogate get?
These are questions which Harrogate Council are finding impossible to answer - because they simply do not know.
Frustrated with a lack of information, communication and consultation, the council has
written a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair himself - and they are demanding to be heard.
The letter posted yesterday [10 May 01] with cross party agreement [including the Tories] hopes to open
the lines of communication for some real answers about the US base ...
...Chief Executive Mick Walsh said "it was high time information regarding the base and its role in the
missile defence programme was given to the very people it was going to affect most - the people of Harrogate
district... no consultation has been carried out with this council..."
"No doubt you will have heard of a report in The Observer in which the Prime Minister quite clearly
said all planning decisions regarding Menwith Hill were in the hands of this council.
But we have no control over crown land and even if we did object, the objection would go back to the
Department of Environment and the Regions. [& in January the DoE stated that it was Harrogate's
responsibility & sent it back!] ...nor do we want it to become a site for mass
protest..."
The council also voted to consider attending the Menwith Hill Forum...
"They want to know what is going on here," he said. "And I think their organisation are more in the know
than we are..."
The letter has also been circulated to leaders of both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, North
Yorkshire MP's and MEP's.
(See also: Town strikes back over base)
WOMENWITH HILL
Last December, Anna Cheetham put onto the Internet our letter about developments at Menwith Hill. As a
result hundreds of representations expressing concern about the implications of the "Star Wars"
installations & calling for Public Inquiry, have since been sent to Harrogate Council. These, plus action in
support of the demand by MP's Ann Cryer & Harold Best, recent media exposure, and Nick Cohen's follow-up
piece in "The Observer" [discussed in the Council Meeting] have had so much impact on the local
authority, that at last they are starting to take notice! [There's a strategy lesson to be learned!
Think ahead!]
What's the next step?
After the General Election, the UK Prime Minister [whoever it is] will give the Councillors a reassuring
reply. There is a stock response: "...RAF Menwith Hill operates with the full knowledge and consent of the UK
Government. We regard it as being of the highest importance to this country's defence strategy.
No activity considered detrimental to the UK's interests is, or would be, permitted to take place at the
base..." [Thinks: If we run a book at odds of 10:1, that this statement will be in the reply, how many
bets would get us the equipment to hook up to the Internet, instead of having to borrow this space once
a week? 60+ @ 10 pounds?]
Will the PM's reply reassure the Council? Very likely!
What's the next step? [SUGGESTIONS?!?]
We need to KEEP UP THE DEMAND FOR A PUBLIC INQUIRY.
The public must be consulted.
a. The local papers are seeking the public's response; send the arguments calling for Public
Inquiry to "The Harrogate Advertiser", 1 Cardale Park, Beckwith Head Road, Harrogate. HG3 1RZ. [Letters must
include name, address & daytime phone no.]. Letters in local papers do have influence!
b. Write a complaint about the failure of the local authority to oversee/control Menwith Hill. There is an
official Complaints' Procedure which deals with maladministration by the council. Address: The Chief
Executive, Harrogate Borough Council, Crescent Gardens, Harrogate. HG1 2SG.
A CLOSE SCRUTINY OF PLANNING LAW & LEGAL STATUS OF CIRCULAR 18/84 [CROWN LAND & DEVELOPMENT]
{"...guidelines and procedures..." see quote from John Spellar's letter} IS REQUIRED - TO FIND THE LOOPHOLES,
WE HOPE! MAKE WAVES!
WOMEN'S PEACE (CAMP)AIGN
P.O. BOX 105, HARROGATE, N. YORKS. HG3 2FE
Tel: 01943 468593 or 466825
See also: