Base Lands Prestige Task Gazette & Herald 6th October 2005 pg 6 www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk with thanks to Zoë Mills OPERATIONS at RAF Lyneham will shut down and security will be stepped up next Thursday as defence ministers from the European Union spend the day at the base. It has been billed as an historic day for the doomed station, which is set to close down in 2012 with the loss of 2,000 jobs. The event, being held in Britain because it holds the presidency of the EU until the end of the year, is regarded as a great honour by staff at RAF Lyneham. All 24 defence ministers have been invited but it is not yet known how many will turn up on the day, which is being hosted by Britain's Defence Secretary John Reid.

Operations at the base will be minimised as the ministers fly into RAF Lyneham from their respective countries on Thursday morning. Ministers will be treated to a display of British military capability involving all three services before being served lunch cooked by Lyneham's chefs. In the afternoon they will gather in the officers' mess for the meeting. Among the subjects on the agenda will be the European forces mission in Bosnia.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "There are no decisions expected at the meeting but it should be an informative event, and clearly a historic moment for Lyneham." An RAF Lyneham spokesman said: "We are all very excited about this and it's a great privilege for Lyneham to be chosen to host it. Lots of preparations are underway to make it a fitting venue for these VIPs. The display will be designed to demonstrate UK military capability in the context of EU operations, which are humanitarian and peace-keeping focused."

Lyneham village webmaster Andy Humm said he hoped the visit would thrust RAF Lyneham into the limelight and give it some good publicity. He said: "Like everyone is saying, it is an honour to be chosen and hopefully it will show the Government the true value of Lyneham and make it reconsider closing it down. The ministerial visit has been kept low-key for security reasons and extra measures are in place because of the high level of the people coming."

Mr Humm said a couple of people had made "anti" remarks on the website about the visit because, he said, the whole community felt Lyneham should remain open and its work not switched to RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. It's a well-used, active station," he said.

"I've heard the reason we've been chosen for this visit is because RAF Brize Norton's runway is closed for maintenance. Aircraft are often diverted here when Brize is down. We have two runways and they only have one, and we are 500ft above sea level and don't get the climate conditions, such as fog, that they do. Lyneham really is an important place."

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