Fort George avoids a mention from Dr Fox
The Scotsman Published Date: 19 July 2011
By Staff Reporter

THE future of the military base at Fort George, near Inverness, has been secured at least in the short term, news welcomed by local politicians.

The conclusions of the Strategic Defence and Security Review had led to speculation that the historic base might close.

Highland Council and others campaigned to retain it and had written to Defence Secretary Liam Fox and Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, expressing its opposition to any moves to close the barracks, current home of the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

However, Dr Fox did not mention Fort George during his statement yesterday and a MoD spokesman said later this meant it was "unaffected" by cutbacks.

Sandy Park, the council convener, said later: "We were unanimous in our opposition to the closure of Fort George, which has such a proud history and is such an important contributor to the Inverness and Highland economies. In this instance no news is good news."

Fort George was commissioned by King George II following the 1746 defeat at Culloden of Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite forces.

Built overlooking the Moray Firth, it was intended to be an impregnable military base and, with just under a mile of boundary walls, it was one of the most formidable artillery fortifications in Europe.

The final cost of over £200,000 was more than Scotland's gross national product for 1750.

After Waterloo in 1815 it was reportedly considered as a prison for Napoleon. It was first opened to the public in 1964 and is the only ancient monument in Scotland still functioning as originally intended.

As well as an army base, Fort George is a significant visitor attraction operated by Historic Scotland and including the Highlanders Museum.

It has 66,000 visitors per year and there are ambitious redevelopment plans for the museum which could contribute an additional £400,000 into the local economy and to create eight full -time equivalent posts.

Stuart Black, the council's director of planning, told members recently the latest MoD statistics showed 560 personnel stationed in the council area - 40 officers and 520 other ranks - the bulk of them from the Black Watch. In addition, the nearby Cameron Barracks in Inverness provides recruitment and administrative services.

He said no formal economic impact assessment had been undertaken to understand the implications for the Highland economy as a result of a possible closure, but the loss could be as much as £14 million and 112 jobs.

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