27 Feb 09

Under Secretary of State for Defence, Kevan Jones MP, visited Aldershot Garrison earlier this week to see the improvements being made under Project Allenby/Connaught, as well as paying a visit to the Aldershot Centre for Health. The Minister was joined by the Army’s Regional Forces Commander, Lieutenant General Nick Parker.

Following a guided tour of the training and education areas at Wellington House he met soldiers from 27 Regiment Royal Logistics Corps in their single en-suite living accommodation and shared lunch with them in the Junior Ranks ‘Super Diner’. The Minister then visited the Regional Rehabilitation Unit to see and hear how injured soldiers are treated, before visiting the new Aldershot Centre for Health.

Kevan Jones MP, who has held the junior ministerial position since October 2008, said “The buildings are the best the Army has to offer its soldiers. This is the standard not just for the British Army but for armies all over the world. It is first rate accommodation for our young men and women in uniform. This is something the Ministry of Defence is immensely proud of.”

Much of St Omer Barracks has now been handed over to Aspire Defence Capital Works to become a building site, as work steps up for the delivery of phase two of the contract in Aldershot. The old buildings, which were built in the 1950s, will soon be demolished and construction of more junior ranks single living accommodation blocks, pubs, Officers’ Mess and a Physical and Recreation Training Centre (P&RTC) will get underway.

Colonel Tim Forster, Aldershot Garrison Colonel, commented, “I was delighted to host Kevan Jones MP and the Commander of Regional Forces and show them some of the first class new facilities that have recently been delivered in Aldershot. In contrast, the Minister saw some of the old estate which we are managing through a transition period before the redevelopment of the Garrison is completed in 2015. The Minister and Commander of Regional Forces were able to meet some of the soldiers and hear what living in Aldershot Garrison is like.”

Doug Weidner, Allenby/Connaught’s Project Manager added, “Project Allenby/Connaught has been running for nearly three years and has already provided new, en-suite accommodation for approximately 3,100 soldiers and more than 170 new and refurbished buildings have been handed over to the Army.

Although most of this work has been carried out in the Salisbury Plain area to date, there is much to come in Aldershot and soon some of Aldershot Garrison’s landmark structures will be disappearing. Perhaps the most notable is the former Defence Food Services School’s 12 storey grey concrete tower block in St Omer Barracks, which will be demolished in late spring/early summer 2009 to make way for a new soldiers’ village, accommodating over 1,000 soldiers.”

Neil Johnston, Garrison Facilities Director for Aspire Defence Services Limited added, “This is a continuing success story. With more than 3,000 soldiers in their own brand new homes, Project Allenby/Connaught is making a real difference to soldiers’ daily lives. Aspire Defence and the MoD have worked hard to bring about this step change to their quality of life and look forward to that continued success making a significant impact on Aldershot Garrison with the next phase of improvements to be carried out.”