HALF a century of Winchester’s military history ended in a crash of bricks and mortar today as work began on a state-of-the-art training complex.
The first walls of Worthy Down Camp were torn down ahead of a £250 million redevelopment which will see support staff from Britain’s three armed forces train on the same site for the first time.
The Defence College of Logistics, Policing and Administration will include cutting-edge training facilities, dormitories, offices and a medical centre for thousands of personnel.
The hub for transport, catering and human resources will welcome 2,000 students from the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force from 2016, more than double the current Army barracks’ population of 750.
An artist's impression of Worthy Down's new training college
Other facilities on the 77,000 square metre site include a dental practice, gymnasium, 60 homes for military families and a memorial garden.
Training will continue throughout the build, which is expected to finish in late 2018.
Brigadier Allan McLeod, who oversees five military colleges, said the new base would save the taxpayer money by allowing the forces to share technology and teaching methods.
“This allows us to centralise our training in a fit-for-purpose site,” he said. “As a consequence, we extract [personnel] from three other major defence sites.
“The success here will demonstrate that you can train here together while maintaining the single service ethos.”
Expansion will bring a “considerable number” of civilian jobs to the area, he added.
Simon Gadd, of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, Skanska contractors' Terry Elphick and Brig Allan McLeod man the digger
Worthy Down was first used by the military during the First World War, with the current barracks opening in 1960.
Retired Major Joseph Bright, who came to Worthy Down as an Army apprentice in 1965 and has worked more than 20 jobs there since, said: “If you have one large training camp, you have economies of scale. We can train all the best people in one place and they can all learn from each other.
“I just love being here, it’s a lovely working environment.”
The Adjutant General's Corps, who have used the base since 1992, will remain on the site.
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