LAND at Leighton House, the base camp of the British Army’s Officer Selection Board on Warminster Road, is to be sold off to housing developers, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced last month.
The plan was revealed as the MOD made its most recent cuts to assets across the country in a bid to raise £140million.
Leighton House was one of ten sites set to be disposed of, which are expected to site 7,000 new homes between them – an average of 700 each, although no indication has been given to how many Westbury could see.
Leighton House and its grounds, which are surrounded by a wall, have been used by the army since 1949. Leighton House itself was built more than 200 years ago (approximately 1800); it was once owned by the Laverton family, and has in the past been used as Victoria College boys’ school and as a hospital during the Second World War.
Defence Minister Mark Lancaster said, “Every pound we make by disposing of excess land will be reinvested into a defence budget that keeps Britain safe. It will make the defence estate more efficient and better suited to the needs of our armed forces. And it will help thousands of people to own their own home.
“The defence estate currently spans one per cent of all UK land and covers 452,000 hectares. The department has committed to generating £1billion through land sales during this parliament and contributing up to 55,000 homes.”
The other sites to be put up for sale included: Thornhill Barracks, Aldershot; Burgoyne Barracks, Folkestone; Clive Barracks, Shropshire; Fitz Wygram House, Aldershot;
Defence Training Estate land near Cove, Farnborough; Rylston Road ARC, London; MOD Wethersfield, Essex; Chetwynd Barracks, Nottinghamshire; and MOD Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester.
Twelve other sites were announced in January as part of the MOD’s plans to reduce the size of its built estate by 30 per cent.
