Norfolk County Councillor Janet Murphy joined the mobile library service when it visited Marham earlier this week to collect more signatures Picture: IAN BURT

Closing RAF Marham will ‘hit services for decades’

by DAVID BLACKMORE, senior reporter Thursday, November 25, 2010
9:05 AM

Moving RAF Marham’s Tornado fleet to Scotland could hit public services in the county for decades to come.

If thousands of people were to leave the region, schools, bus services, and other services we often take for granted would need to be reviewed in light of the closure.

And it is feared that those remaining in the village of Marham could be left isolated.

Nick Daubney, leader of West Norfolk Council, said: “To close RAF Marham would be traumatic for public services. It would be like losing a major town overnight and our whole council tax income would be massively lowered with no way of replacing that income.

“There are also a huge number of young people who work and live around the base who are not making many demands on the council but are contributing a lot to the economy.

“RAF Marham is a vital part of our community and to lose it would have a massive effect on public services for all of us in the borough for a long time to come.”

The Rainbow Centre, which caters for children aged from three months to 12 years in the village, and nearby Marham Junior School, would both face closure if the government opted to keep RAF Lossiemouth open.

Parent Samantha Duncan said she would be distraught if the centre were to close and her two children, Brooke, three, and JJ, one, had to go elsewhere.

“The Rainbow Centre has been fantastic for us and my daughter has come on leaps and bounds at this place. It would be a real shame if we have to leave the nursery”, she said.

“There are a lot of children here that are mainly from RAF families and this closure threat is unsettling for all of us.”

Graham Dickson, headteacher at Marham Junior School, said: “The closure of RAF Marham would drastically change the nature of this school. Most of our children are from RAF families and there would be a  lot of disruption here if the base closed.

“Without the RAF children at our school we would only have about 20 children and we would probably have to close.”

Schools in nearby Shouldham, Narborough, Downham Market and Swaffham would also be impacted.

A Norfolk County Council spokesman added: “We keep the numbers of children in our schools under review and would clearly need to take stock of the implications should a decision be taken to close the base.”

Meanwhile, villagers who live around the base are worried what impact the base closing will have on Marham’s bus service and mobile library services.

Pauline Bullen, who has lived in Marham for 18 years, said: “Losing RAF Marham will decimate our village and I am really worried about what might happen to our hourly bus service into King’s Lynn.

“I think if the base closes then there might not be such a high demand and it will be stopped but it is a vital service for people living here.

“I am also worried that the mobile library service will stop coming.”

Fellow Marham resident Marie Mills added: “Without the base the village will become a ghost area and I think we will be cut off from everywhere else.”

Alan Nelson, who drives Norfolk County Council’s mobile library through West Norfolk including Downham Market and Marham, said a fall in demand from the area might affect his work.

He has also been collecting signatures from mobile library users backing our campaign to Make it Marham.

He continued: “I put out the petition on Thursday and everyone has been wanting to sign it because they were in favour of RAF Marham and don’t want the Tornado fleet moved to Scotland.

“So far I have filled four sheets with almost 100 signatures in just four days and that just shows the level of support there is here.”

To back our campaign to Make it Marham make sure you sign our petition by visiting http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40578.html