Bid to turn Donnington military base into centre of excellence

Council leaders in Telford today moved to lobby the Ministry of Defence in a bid to attract a military centre of excellence to the town.

The MoD base in Donnington is drawing up a business plan with Telford & Wrekin Council to prove it is the best location for a new logistics centre of excellence.

The authority this afternoon said it would now be lobbying hard to convince the MoD to open the centre in Telford.

Council leader Kuldip Sahota said: "We believe the Donnington site has a strong foundation for delivery of a logistics operation including good land availability, and an adopted local planning policy that would support this development.

"A solution which capitalises on the use of good quality existing assets in Telford would appear to present a more viable, deliverable and attractive investment proposal for the MoD.

"The MoD Donnington site has been shown to deliver on all of the strategic objectives set by the MoD."

The MoD's original plans were for a centre of excellence to be located at Bicester in Oxfordshire.

Councillor Sahota said: "Donnington's central location, immediately adjacent to a high quality road and railfreight network, the availability of a skilled labour force, key suppliers already in Telford and the site's existing infrastructure in terms of warehousing all fully support its status as a defence gateway."