The future of Chester ’s Dale Barracks army camp remains in jeopardy as the Mercian Regiment prepares to parade in the city centre this Saturday (February 17).
The 2 Mercian Regiment has been based at the Dale in Upton since 2014 but will soon vacate for a deployment in Cyprus this summer.
Chester Labour MP Chris Matheson , who is currently visiting a British military base in Gibraltar, confirmed the government still intends to sell off the Dale but he has not given up his fight to save the base.
He said: “They still want to close it. I’m hopeful we have saved the army reserve centre at Fox Barracks. At the moment the Dale is scheduled to close in the mid 2020s but I’m not giving up. My sources in the army say it’s a bad idea, it’s madness. The same arguments still apply.
“It’s quality accommodation, recently modernised, and the city and Upton area in particular have a long history of the army being involved in the community.
"For example, the primary schools are set up to deal specifically with the challenges faced by service families with redeployments here and there. Moreover, it’s a daft idea to focus all the army’s footprint in the North West on the one site above Preston.
“One defence source I spoke to described it as an ideal forward operating base, for example, in terms of bomb disposal capability.
“At the same time, HMS Albion, one of our two amphibious landing ships – and of course affiliated to the City of Chester – is also under threat as the government considers selling off Albion and Bulwark, slashing the Royal Marines. So these are bad times for all of us who value and treasure our city’s links with the armed services.”
Mr Matheson is taking a year-long placement with the British Army as part of his parliamentary duties to learn more about how our armed forces operate. He visited British troops in Estonia over New Year who are part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup on the border with Russia.
“It was great to meet the soldiers and spend some time with them, and many of the Royal Welsh had previously served in Chester at the Dale Barracks so knew our city well and had fond memories of it,” he said.
■ The Mercian Regiment Freedom Parade starts at Chester Castle at 10.15am on Saturday (February 17) and makes its way to the cathedral for the service at 11am. At noon, following the service, the Mercian parade will form up outside the cathedral and proceed to Eastgate Street, where the formal salute will take place, before heading back to the castle.
