New state of the art facilities opened at Colchester Garrison

4 Dec 2006 04:45 PM

Defence Minister, Derek Twigg, officially opened new state-of-the-art barracks at Colchester Garrison today, home to the Headquarters of 16 Air Assault Brigade and the Parachute Regiment.

The new Merville Barracks will provide modern living and working accommodation for 3,500 military personnel as well as working accommodation for 220 MoD civilian staff and 400 contracted staff. The site will also include training facilities, indoor and outdoor recreation facilities, a regional court martial centre and education and welfare facilities. This is the first phase of one the largest Defence Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) to date.

Mr Twigg led a list of distinguished guests during the Merville Barracks opening ceremony, which featured a host of military displays including a salute by the guns of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, a flypast of Apache helicopters and a fanfare by the Band of the Parachute Regiment. The ceremonial key was received by a junior soldier from 16 Air Assault Brigade, Gunner Reece Evans aged 18 from Swansea in South Wales, as the Under Secretary of State declared the barracks open. This was followed by a tour of the new facilities.

Speaking at the ceremony Mr Twigg said:

"This Private Finance Initiative is the first of its kind for a Garrison project, offering soldiers state of the art, comfortable living and working facilities. The benefits of this PFI project extend into the local community, generating new jobs, improved services to local residents and to the transport infrastructure. The sale of the surplus land released by the new Garrison will allow substantial redevelopment on the brown field land around Abbey Field and will fund part of the cost of the new Garrison.

"I am also delighted to meet personnel from the 16 Air Assault Brigade who have recently finished a successful tour of Afghanistan. What these men have accomplished is truly outstanding, but it came with a cost. Sadly, a number of soldiers from the battlegroup did not return. This country owes the whole brigade an immense debt of gratitude."

Brigadier Ed Butler, Commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade and Colchester Garrison, said:

"This is clearly a very special day for all of us within the Brigade and Garrison and we look forward to developing these new barracks into the very best, workplace, and our final home. We are asking more and more from some servicemen and women in these challenging times, demonstrated so vividly by the raw courage and commitment of those members of this Brigade who have just returned from Afghanistan and Iraq. They deserve the first class, fit for purpose accommodation and technical working areas that we now have here."

The new facility has been delivered and will be maintained for the next 35 years by consortium RMPA Services Plc, a consortium made up from the following companies:

HSBC Infrastructure Investments Ltd - the majority shareholder. Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd - the construction contractor building the new facility.
Sodexho Defence Services Ltd - the provider of a number facilities management services such a catering and cleaning.
Atkins Defence Asset Management Ltd - the provider of ground and planned maintenance services in support of the garrison
infrastructure.

Charles Barrington, Chairman of RMPA Services Plc, the Private Finance Initiative consortium, said:

"This would not have been achieved without a huge effort on the part of my colleagues in the consortium and it is as a result of the excellent working relationships between them that you see first class new facilities. I would also like to thank our MoD colleagues, at every level, for the efforts they have made to make this project a success. This project shows what can be achieved with goodwill on both sides and a good working relationship between client and contractor, a process which we have invested and will continue to invest a great deal of effort."

Notes to editors

1. At a total cost of £2.2bn over a 35 year contract, of which £560m is building costs, Colchester Garrison PFI is one of the largest Defence accommodation PFIs to date. The contract for its delivery was the first of its type for a Garrison project, and is setting standards for future MOD projects. Following the US of S announcement to the House on 3 February 2004 the decision was made to award the project to RMPA Services (a consortium of Sir Robert McAlpine, Atkins plc and Sodexho).

2. The completion of Phase 1 (78 buildings) in August 2006 was 10 weeks earlier than originally programmed. It consists of office space, armouries, stores, parade squares, conference rooms, a new Courts Martial Centre, multi-storey car parks for personal vehicles, and garaging for military vehicles plus more than a dozen outdoor sports pitches. Phase 2 will also provide more living, technical and office accommodation plus a new sports centre and a medical reception facility. Buildings that are retained will also be refurbished. Phase 2 has now begun and is due to be completed in 2008.

3. The first troops took occupation of the accommodation and workspace on 26 September. This saw 78 of the 134 buildings occupied as part of the PFI project Under Phase 1, around 1500 of the 3500 soldiers and civilian staff employed at Colchester Garrison will move into their new accommodation.

4. Merville Barracks are named to commemorate 9 Para's coup de main action to capture the Merville Battery on D Day. On 6 June 1944, as part of the Normandy Landings the 9th Battalion The Parachute Regiment jumped in to France to silence a battery of four concrete gun emplacements near the village of Merville, 3 Miles east of Ouistreham. The destruction of these guns was essential to the success of the Normandy landings and thus the efforts of the 9th Battalion can not be underestimated.
The 9th Battalion having evolved from the 10th Battalion, The Essex Regiment clearly has a county connection with Colchester and as such are deservedly acknowledged in this manner.

5. The 16 Air Assault Brigade website can be found at:
http://www.army.mod.uk/16_air_asslt_bde/index.html

6. For further information visit the MoD website at www.mod.uk