Top Gun No More..... ?

Reading in the P&J today, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that it owns more than 900 houses either outright or under a private finance initiative.

Gordon(Nice Guy with Elvis hair)Hay, of Harvey Donaldson & Gibson chartered surveyors in Elgin, said closure of the bases at Kinloss & Lossiemouth would over-saturate Moray’s housing market in the rental and home-ownership sectors.

Sellers would be forced to accept lower prices, developers would stop building, and tradesmen would be out of work, he argued.

“It’s a knock-on effect. It’s not just property value that will be affected. Nothing positive could be taken out of this at all,” he said.

Moray Solicitors Property Centre chairman Sandy Mitchell said that closing a base would take a few years, hopefully giving the area time to absorb the impact.

HIE's manager for Moray, Calum MacPherson, said a recent report in this matter provided a factual base for decision-makers.

He added: “Due to the scale and long-term presence of the RAF in Moray the two bases are woven into the surrounding communities, not least because they support at least 16% of local employment. The threat to the economy and population in the region is therefore more acute in Moray than other region in the UK."

Moray business leader, Chamber of Commerce chief executive Jim Johnston, said nobody should be in any doubt about the value of the bases to the economy.

“It’s the equivalent of taking a town the size of Keith and closing it down. Just obliterating it from the face of the earth,” he added.

Moray Council convener George McIntyre said: “In addition to the economic input, the RAF personnel and their families play a vital role in the communities in the region with significant contributions to volunteer and charity work.

“It is vital the decision-makers consider the economic and social consequences of the defence review.”

A government document leaked earlier this month revealed plans to save £7.5billion by grounding RAF Lossie’s 120-strong fleet of Tornado GR4/GR4As.

RAF Kinloss is equally insecure.

The base has lost all its Nimrod MR2 surveillance aircraft and is waiting for the arrival of the next generation of Nimrod MRA4s. Which will no doubt land, therefore honouring BAE's contract, then turn straight around and head 'down South'

The MoD said speculation was “entirely unfounded”.

Speculation is rife around Moray, with stories about the Army moving into Kinloss, the Navy into Lossiemouth, Richard Branson basing Virgin Galctic here, etc... etc....

Lets' face it, no one knows, certainly not your butcher, hairdresser or the local journalists.

No local report is going to carry any weight at Whitehall I'm afraid - It's just a money saving exercise as far as they are concerned. We just have to keep our fingers crossed that they make the right decision.

Until the next time.

Mr J

Meet Bob......

From the Guardian today and the mystery to many how ordinary people can afford to live in the UK's capital. Consistently ranked one of the most expensive cities in the world, London's house prices are ever more ludicrous, even in these dark days of pay freezes, mass redundancies and bankruptcy.

Visit one of the campsites encircling the city and it becomes clear how some people make the sums work: by shunning bricks and mortar to live in tents, caravans and mobile homes.

Each morning at these sites the shower blocks teem with commuters washing, shaving and making themselves presentable for a hard day's graft in the big smoke.

Last week a council worker called Philip Hanman hit the papers when he claimed he had been forced out of his job after his bosses discovered he was commuting to work in Barking and Dagenham in east London from a campsite in Epping Forest, where he slept in a £30 tent. Hanman has taken voluntary redundancy from the council and now lives with his family in Cornwall, where he previously spent his weekends.

Camping commuters are far from rare in the capital. On the Lee Valley site in Edmonton, north London, near a monster branch of Ikea and surrounded by pylons, 40 pitches are reserved for "long-termers".

Many of them work constructing the Olympic park, driving buses or in other jobs in the city, returning to their "real" homes at the weekend.

Here, in a neat caravan, lives one of the more unusual residents. Last year Lucy Boggis, 21, spent her days chasing amateur athletes up a climbing wall in her role as Tempest in the Sky series of Gladiators. Now, she is devoting all her energy to the 2012 Olympics, where she hopes to represent Britain in the heptathlon.

With no lottery funding, money is tight. So last September she decided to set up camp at the Lee Valley site, which is next door to an athletics centre.

Each morning, she makes herself porridge on the small van's stove, before padding over to the shower block for a wash.

She's at the track for 9am, and spends the day practising the hurdles, high jump and the other five disciplines that make up her event. On the weekends she goes home to her family in the West Country. "Some of my fellow athletes take the mickey, but most of them actually think it's a good idea. If you don't have funding, you don't have much spare money, and it's much cheaper to stay in a caravan than rent a one-bedroom flat," she said.

Lee Valley is one of the more expensive sites around London, charging between £12.30 and £16.40 a night for a one-person pitch, depending on the season, plus £3.60 per day for electricity.

In a caravan a few doors down from Boggis lives IT contractor Keith Davidson, who commutes to Canary Wharf each day.

The City is less than an hour away by public transport, with a regular bus service stopping at the site and taking campers to the nearest station.

"My family lives up in Aberdeen, but I often get contracts down here. The main reason I stay here is because of the flexibility – if you rent a flat you often have to commit to six months or a year, whereas here you can come and go as you like," he said.

The campsite's only residency rules are that everyone has to clear off during the few winter months when the site is closed, and that you pay for every night you're taking up a pitch, whether you're there or not. In a motorhome nearby lives Bob Casbeard, who commutes a few days a week to his urban planning job in Hackney. "I've been coming here on and off for eight years," he said, showing off his retractable satellite dish and extensive cooking facilities. Unlike many of the other long-termers, Casbeard is not camping to save money – he owns houses in east London, Suffolk and the Champagne region of France. "I do it to save the planet," he said, pointing up to the solar panels on the roof.

He added: "It does save me some money, though. Sometimes I stay in a hotel in Chigwell, and it costs £70 a night, which even for three nights is more expensive than parking my van here for a whole week."

We'll see more people on the campsite in Findhorn soon I reckon !

Until the next time.

Mr J

Depressing....

Sorry for the lack of blogging of late - Avid readers may remember my previous exploits and my resulting broken hip. Unfortunately, of late my hip has been giving me 'jip' and I've spent a few days being looked after by the excellent staff at Raigmore.

I'm pleased to say that I'm back on the mend and I am all wi-fii'd up and ready to get back on the blogging wagon - which I've really missed, (along with my cakes and buns from Macleans) A mention sometimes guarantees me a free doughnut !

I've also popped in to see David at Moray Property - Seems things are going rather well and already they have a window stocked with properties. David tells me the rental market is presently 'on fire' and doesn't have enough rental stock to keep up with demand. (That wallpaper doesn't get any duller does it David !)

The same can't be said for sales - where it's certainly a 'buyers market' at present. With many vendors choosing to go down the fixed price route, rather than the more traditional 'Offers Over', snaring the first 'ready, willing and able' buyer.

It seems that prospective vendors in the area are awaiting the defence review which is due next month, we will then hopefully put an end to the speculation about the future of RAF Kinloss & Lossiemouth.

Let's hope it's good news, as closure of either base would hurt the local economy and housing market badly. We'd see house prices tumble, as many personnel are forced to ship out and sell up.

Though as usual, there is talk of the army moving into RAF Kinloss and the Navy back to RAF Lossiemouth, then again there's always talk of this every couple of years. We could do with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic taking off soon (quite literally). That would certainly see the area 'Rocket'.

All this, coupled with the poor Summer and the forthcoming sale of Mackenzie & Cruikshank (one of my favourite shops) in the Forres High Street, things are certainly looking a bit bleak.

Thank heavens for Benromach and the cakes in the cafe on the green at Cawdor, like rental properties, both are well worth indulging in and will raise anyone's spirits.

Lets hope for the best & keep smiling.

Until the next time.

J.