The fight to save RAF Leuchars will go down to the wire after senior officials at the heart of the UK Government revealed details of the controversial strategic defence review are still being thrashed out.
Despite persistent rumours and speculation, Scottish secretary Michael Moore insisted nothing has yet been ruled in or out.
With all apparently still to play for, those fighting for the future of the Fife base said they are “extremely encouraged.”
Fraser Phillips, chairman of the Residents Action Force Leuchars, spent Monday afternoon in talks with Mr Moore and emerged in buoyant mood.
“I felt I had the ear of the Scottish Secretary and he listened very carefully to everything I had to say,” Mr Phillips told The Courier.
“Michael Moore clearly has a great breadth of knowledge on the subject, and I found that extremely encouraging. He was well aware of the many issues raised by campaigners…and is prepared to reflect the Scottish position in this review.
“I felt I got a very good hearing and was able to stress the strategic importance of Leuchars. I came away feeling confident that our position will be well represented.”
Mr Phillips stressed there has been significant investment in Leuchars in recent years £25m was spent on runway improvements alone.
“I pointed out how much had been spent and was also able to talk about the importance of the base to the local economy,” he said. “In fact, I was able to put the case for Leuchars in a very open way and was pleased by the responses I got.”
With persistent rumours that RAF Leuchars could be replaced with a huge army barracks continuing to circulate, Mr Moore was happy to guarantee no final decisions have been taken.
Nevertheless, it is understood defence chiefs are studying a number of options for troops returning from bases in Germany.Premature suggestionsUnder one of the possible scenarios, Leuchars would be established as a so-called “super barracks,” housing up to 12,000 personnel and their families.
The influx of such a huge number of people would cause major challenges, not least in terms of the local infrastructure. If this happened it is thought Lossiemouth would be retained.
However, during his talks with Mr Phillips, the Scottish Secretary said such suggestions were premature, and uninformed speculation.
“Mr Moore promised that absolutely no decisions have yet been|made,” Mr Phillips said. “That was actually the most comforting thing for me. Everything is still very much under discussion and all options remain open.”