A councillor has claimed serving soldiers returned to a military base in Bury which had ‘no heating or hot water’.
Councillors heard that reservists based at Bury's Castle Armoury, also known as the Drill Hall, returned from active service and training to appalling conditions prior to the building being closed last month for safety reasons.
The comments, by Labour councillor Spencer Donnelly came as a campaign was launched to save Castle Armoury and keep the historic building open for future generations. Councillors of all parties have urged the Ministry of Defence to provide the money to save the Grade II listed town centre base, which was closed by its trustees last month due to safety concerns.
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The building is home to W Company 5th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, 207 Field Hospital Royal Army Medical Corp and The Lancashire Royal Regiment of Fusiliers volunteer Band. It is also the base for Bury’s Army cadets, RAF cadets, a community karate group, and the Armed Forces veterans’ breakfast club.
Coun Donnelly, himself a military veteran with decades of service, called the situation ‘a travesty’.
He said: “As a veteran of 28 years serving both in the reserves and the regular armed forces I’m woefully disappointed that the historic Castle Armoury in the centre of Bury has been neglected to the point where the commanding officer has felt obliged to close it on health and safety grounds. The contribution of the people of Bury borough to the defence of the nation can be encapsulated in one short phrase ‘six VCs before breakfast’.
“More recently volunteers from the armoury have served repeatedly in Afghanistan and Iraq and are still augmenting the regular armed forces as they operate world wide. It’s travesty that these soldiers have had to endure working in the field, living rough, crawling through sheep droppings and manure before returning to their home base which is devoid of heating or running hot water.
“They are denied a hot shower and hot water to clean their kit.”
The motion was agreed unanimously on Wednesday, July 20 by the council after an emergency motion was put down by Coun Richard Gold, the council’s armed forces lead.
The council heard that it would cost at least £2 million to carry out urgent repairs to the building and several million more to fully modernise it. The building is owned by the Bury Castle Armoury Trust and is leased to North West Reserve Forces & Cadets Association (NW RFCA) through a formal agreement.
Under the terms of the lease NW RFCA and in turn the Ministry of Defence assume full responsibility for repairs and maintenance.
Coun Gold, said: “The council has unanimously agreed to do everything it can to save the Drill Hall.
“We urge the Ministry of Defence to provide the necessary funds to repair it and restore it to full use. We’re also looking at what external funding is available and working with all parties to save this important asset for the local community.”
Opposition Conservative leader, Coun Russell Bernstein, said: “This cross party motion gives all councillors the opportunity to speak with a united voice and do all that we can as a council to re-open Castle Armoury.”
Radcliffe First leader Coun Mike Smith said that ‘years of underfunding and neglect have brought us to this position’. He added: “This is a Grade II listed building allowed to decline in a Fusilier town. It’s the duty of all of us to do all we can and bring pressure on those responsible to replace, repair and renew as needed.”
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