---

Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in respect of the closure of the munitions depot at Dean Hill, Wiltshire, what will be (a) the expected annual savings to his Department, (b) the anticipated revenue from the sale of married quarters to (i) sitting tenants and (ii) the market, (c) the estimated cost of connection of the married quarters estate to civilian services for (A) electricity, (B) water and (C) gas, (d) the ongoing annual maintenance of the site broken down into (1) buildings, (2) ground maintenance and (3) security and (e) the estimated market value of the site at sale. [65705] Mr. Ingram: The annual savings from the closure of the Dean Hill site are estimated to be £2.083 million once all one-off expenditure is taken into account. We currently estimate the cost of separating as, electricity--£50,000; water--£40,000; sewerage--£90,000. Gas is already supplied from a separate Calor gas tank. All figures exclude VAT. The annual maintenance budget can be broken down as follows: buildings--£894,000; grounds maintenance--£25,000. So far as security is concerned the approximate cost of the Ministry of Defence police presence at DM Dean Hill was £800,000 for financial year 2001-02. Although the Ministry of Defence has assessed the disposal value of the West Dean site and associated residential properties, these are likely to be sold on the open market. To release our estimates of value could influence the eventual receipt, and I am, therefore, withholding this information under Exemption 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

65705; 388 c712-3W;388 c715W

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Ammunition Costs Buildings Land Electricity Property transfer Natural gas Married quarters Sales Water Security Storage Utilities Repairs and maintenance Defence Munitions DM Dean Hill

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk