27 May 2025
Will the former RAF Scampton site become yet another housing estate rather than be turned into a hub of aviation, aerospace and satellite technology?
That was the plan before the disastrous and expensive Home Office idea to create an asylum centre on the historic airfield failed last year at a cost of more than £60m.
Now it seems Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is determined to see houses built on the site and has put the airfield up for open sale.
Well-known WWII historian James Holland thinks there is still time to stop ‘a golden opportunity going to waste’.
“For Scampton there is still – just about – a plan in place that offers any number of ticks in the right box,” writes James on Substack.
“The Scampton Holdings proposal is promising a continued use of the airfield – and an immediate plan for a fully licenced CAA classification that will see it form a critical part of the new UK Strategic Airfield Network (SAN) – to create a high-tech aviation and aerospace hub, aspects of current and future defence that are vital.
“It will provide jobs long into the future in a deprived part of the country – jobs and ongoing Treasury income that would considerably outrun any building project.
“It will also safeguard the incredible heritage of Scampton. What’s not to like? To any sane person, absolutely nothing.”
Scampton Airfield
The Home Office announced its plan to sell RAF Scampton on open market in April, although Dame Angela Eagle MP, a govt minister for border security and asylum, insists ‘the Home Office is committed to continuing work with West Lindsey to progress their interest in the site’.
West Lindsey, the local council, announced its development plan for the site in March 2023, which included proposals to transform the site into a business, aerospace and heritage centre working with Scampton Holdings.
Sally Grindrod-Smith, Director of Planning and Regeneration at West Lindsey District Council said, “Informed by a robust market testing exercise, West Lindsey District Council has a clear plan to secure the long-term investment this site needs.
“Given the well-documented constraints such as contamination, heritage concerns, planning, and infrastructure challenges, a public-private partnership is the only realistic way forward.
“The Councils preferred development partner Scampton Holdings LTD remain committed to the project and are ready to get the scheme underway.”
