Signatures were being collected next to the Assembly Rooms in Swaffham to save RAF Marham.

Thousands show their support for Make it Marham

by DAVID BLACKMORE Monday, November 15, 2010
5:55 PM

Thousands of people from across Norfolk have rallied together to back our campaign to save RAF Marham.

Signatures were being collected next to the Assembly Rooms in Swaffham to save RAF Marham. Pictured: Kesito Poponne signs the petition with Liz Truss MP.

The EDP joined forces with MPs, councils, businesses and communities to launch the campaign on Friday to unite the county and argue our case.

As many as 6,000 people had signed up to our Make it Marham campaign last night - but campaigners are now hoping to kick on and reach the 20,000 mark by November 26.

On Saturday, South-West Norfolk MP Elizabeth Truss joined eager volunteers, including former cabinet minister Baroness Gillian Shephard, to collect signatures in Swaffham.

Ms Truss said: “We are really hoping to get to about 20,000 signatures and I don’t think that is an unrealistic aim for two weeks.

“The response has been fantastic and we have been struggling to keep up with the amount of people wanting to sign the petition.

“There is a strong feeling amongst everyone we have spoken to that the logical decision is to keep the base here for strategic and economical reasons.

“Residents have said they wanted to sign to help Norfolk stand up for itself, fight this all the way and make sure our voices are heard.

“The main thing people have mentioned to us is the amount of jobs that could be lost and also the impact on shopping at places like Swaffham and Downham Market.”

She added: “People have said to me they don’t want the base to be lost because the decision is based on who can shout the loudest.”

Ms Truss added she will be petitioning in Downham Market Town Square on Friday from 1.30pm to 3.00 pm.

Twice as many jobs depend on Marham than its Scottish counterpart – the two bases employ 5,170 and 2,631 respectively.

Unemployment is almost twice as high in rural Norfolk (7.4pc) as in Moray (4.8pc), while 15pc of our workforce lacks any qualification.

It is reasons like this that Baroness Shephard wants to see RAF Marham continue. She said: “The response from everyone has been fantastic but I am not surprised by it because of how strongly people feel about RAF Marham.

“There is a great deal of respect for the armed forces in west Norfolk and a feeling that RAF Marham has been part of our community for so long.

“People are incredibly supportive of it and if it closed there would be a huge economical and emotional impact.

“It is worth remembering unemployment is higher here than in Lossiemouth and I think people here realise that this is a serious threat to west Norfolk.

“I think it is excellent that the Eastern Daily Press is backing the campaign and that Elizabeth is getting it a high profile nationally.

“If Norfolk really takes to a cause it will support it the whole way and I believe we will win this.”

Swaffham resident Margaret Reader asked to sign the petition because she is adamant that the Tornado fleet must remain in Norfolk.

She said: “I don’t know how our town will cope without RAF Marham and it is very important for west Norfolk that stays open.

“Everyone here loves RAF Marham and the important role it has played in conflicts all around the world for decades.

“We are really proud of the work they do and we would be devastated not to have RAF Marham here any more.

“The closure would impact on the schools here because the majority of children in the schools in the area are from an RAF family.

“I think there will be many shops close here as well because if you take thousands of people away from an area then it is bound to have a major impact of the smaller shops.”

She added: “I am delighted to see people campaigning hard to make sure we don’t lose the base.”

*To sign the petition visit www.gopetition.com/petition/40578

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8 comments

When did this become Lossie V Marham? I believe it was when Mrs Truss became involved. In Lossie it never was and is still not Lossie V Marham, Scottish V English campaign. We all need to protect our communities and politicians need to not use what is going on as a platform to promote themselves!

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Alison

Friday, November 19, 2010
The conservative led campaign in Norfolk (Ms Truss) is being fought on an ‘us and them’ basis. Norfolk against the Scots, make it Marham close Lossiemouth. Accusations of how Scotland is making the campaign political, instead of being based on facts and economics, who shouts the loudest and so on. The campaign for saving RAF Lossiemouth was started by the wife of a serving airman. Not by a politician or somebody with political aims. The campaign in Moray has never mentioned or fought for closing Marham, only that Lossiemouth should stay open. This isn’t Norfolk against the Scots. ‘MORAY’ is fighting to keep RAF Lossiemouth open for extremely valid economic reasons. All the political parties in Scotland (including the Conservatives) have joined forces with Moray to ensure the conservative government takes notice of the financial devastation that would surely hit the area should the base be closed. If they hadn’t done so, would the UK government have taken a blind bit of notice or would Ms Truss be panicking now. Remember, Moray is already dealing with the impending closure of RAF Kinloss and the loss of several thousand jobs. Also, we may have more qualified people in Moray but that’s only because the RAF makes up a much larger part of our community. Moray is looking at 1 in 5 jobs being effected by the closure of both RAF bases. Over 14 thousand people signed up to the save RAF Lossiemouth campaign and 7 thousand turned up on a bitterly cold day to show their support. Not because it was political, but because the people of Moray are only too aware of the consequences should RAF Lossiemouth close. Finally, if anyone should hope that strategic and economical reasons for keeping one of the bases open should be examined and correctly acted upon, it’s the people of Moray. We all really hope that the UK government makes it decisions based on facts and not political fiction and spin.

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Mike H

Friday, November 19, 2010
It seems blatantly obvious that Liz Truss is using this whole debate to drum up support for herself. There are so many legitimate arguments for keeping both RAF bases, and instead of turning it into a childish them-and-us bickering match we need to throw our support behind thhe RAF in general. About time the powers-that-be actually looked at their sums with some common sense. The wasted money all through the armed forces is scandalous. And instead of just highlighting the statistics that favour her argument for once it'd be nice to see a truly honest interpretation of the facts. Talking about the number of people employed doesn't give a true reflection of the impact the closure could have on either area. And is it really strategically sensible to have only one base in Scotland compared to how many in England? (RAF Leuchars argument below) Blinkered I'm-all-right-jack attitudes won't get anyone through the financial crisis this country faces right now.

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Donna

Friday, November 19, 2010
Why all the fuss Mrs Truss? Marham is not even under review. Why do you seem to be picking a fight with lossie? A lot of your comments defy belief. Lossie cant accomodate the layout ( deep servicing) that is at Marham ? Firstly deep servicing is bieng done at lossie after it was found that marham couldn't cope. secondly what about the facilities and accomodation used before deep was moved to marham FROM LOSSIE?. Also you state that tonkas can reach cyprus from marham , big deal they dont fly yo theatre on a daily basis , they do however fly to the low flying and bombing ranges in North scotland on a daily basis , doing so from marham wastes 12-23 pilot training time allocation. We are entering a pact with norway to patrol the High north , flying from marham would cut patrol time by approx 13 as compared to lossie. To be quite blunt Mrs Truss you are just engaging in Jock Bashing and playing the political card ( no tories in Scotland) as for the comment to close Luchars and move the typhoons to Lossie That is still Scotland taking a vastly unfair share of the cuts loosing 2 out of three stations in the WHOLE COUNTRY. We are loosing Kinloss to loose lossie as well will amount to another round of highland clearences. As to the money side of things what will it cost to bring marhams terrible accomodation and facilities up to spec?

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davie

Friday, November 19, 2010
Mike - If Leuchars stays open it will be the only operational flying base in Scotland - how is that fair? Are you forgetting that RAF Kinloss(also In Moray) is due to close due to the cancellation of the Nimrod MRA4 even though it was a few weeks away from being delivered and will now cost more to scrap than bring into service!! If RAF Lossiemouth closes as well then nearly 6000 jobs in total will be lost to the Moray area. RAF Leuchars is about two and a half hours driving time from Moray - how far is Marham from the next nearest RAF station?Anyway it should not be a direct competition between Lossiemouth and Marham - campaigners here want them both to stay open - you should be joining forces

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Helen

Friday, November 19, 2010
A rather blinkered view Mr Norton. But thanks to Service personnel past and present you are free to make it known. And I think the argument for keeping Marham open is far more sound and comprehensive than for ignoring the issue, when considered impartially.

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midupper

Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Ref Raf Marham under threat of closure, Scotland has already had one station's future assured, RAF Leachars near Dundee. They are currently changing from Tornado aircraft to the new Typhoon as the nation's Quick Reaction Force to intercept and defend the UK's airspace. Norfolk has seen many stations disappear over the last 20years (Coltishall-West Raynham-Sculthorpe) and Marham is the last RAF Station in this part of the UK. If Scotland wants to save Lossiemouth why not move the Typhoon squadrons from Leachars to Lossiemouth.

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Mike

Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Why all the fuss about Marham? RAF Coltishall was allowed to close with hardly a whimper being raised.

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John L Norton

Monday, November 15, 2010