MOD Expansion.

[madhattie]

I liked this story from the Bristol Evening Post, mostly because the new site is actually a stone's throw from the Filton Junction station that was closed down when Filton Abbey Wood was built! Reopen Filton Junction says I!

EXPANSION BRINGS NEW MOD JOBS
3 readers have commented on this story. Click here to read their views.


10:40 - 17 January 2008

The Ministry of Defence is to expand its giant Abbey Wood headquarters at Stoke Gifford by adding another 600 defence jobs.

They will be transferred from other sites around the UK and will raise staff numbers to 7,900.

The MoD will build a three-storey office development at the Parkway Business Park, off Great Stoke Way, to accommodate the extra workers.

It is part of a shake-up of the MoD which has seen the Defence Logistics Organisation and the Defence Procurement Agency merge as the Defence Equipment and Services - based in Bristol.

The new complex, called 'Neighbourhood Five', will be between the Holiday Inn Express and Sainsbury's supermarket, quarter of a mile from the main site.

Most of the jobs will transfer from Wyton, in Cambridgeshire, and will be involved in the development, buying and maintenance of war planes.

The shake-up could eventually see more than 2,000 personnel transferring to either Abbey Wood or Bath.

Work on the new 100,000 square foot office block, which will include a gym and restaurant, will begin in the spring because the MoD already has planning permission to build on the site.

Although it will bring extra traffic to an already congested area, it is seen as another economic boost to the Bristol area because these will be high-tech, well-paid jobs. A spokesman for the MoD said: "The office scheme is a vital component in the wider reorganisation of a national network of MoD operations that provide services and equipment to allied forces in theatre across the globe."

It will enhance Bristol's reputation as a major location for defence industries, with Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems already based nearby.

Councillor Brian Allinson, cabinet member for planning, said the MoD was a valued local employer but the site would put more pressure on the roads.

[free2grice]

Reopen Filton Junction says I!

[/i]

Do you really want two railway stations within such a very short distance? <BJ>

[James]

Reopen Filton Junction says I!

[/i]

Do you really want two railway stations within such a very short distance? <BJ>

I wonder how much a season ticket between Abbey Wood and Junction would be...

[madhattie]

Reopen Filton Junction says I!

[/i]

Do you really want two railway stations within such a very short distance? <BJ>

Definitely! The purpose of a transport system is to shift people from one spot to another. I don't think distance between stops should matter at all. Filton Junction is far better placed as a station than Abbey Wood. It would serve the college, the aerospace factories, Filton High school, the new MOD etc.

[free2grice]

Filton Junction is far better placed as a station than Abbey Wood. It would serve the college, the aerospace factories, Filton High school, the new MOD etc.

Sorry folks. I was thinking of the old Filton station just off Conygre Grove.
.....it's an age thing!!

Filton Jct was still being used by a few aerospace staff when I started working at Rolls-Royce in 1979. It had two platforms but only one platform was used for passenger use. The line through to Avonmouth was a single track at that time. A dmu would stop at the halt once in the morning and again in the evening. One of the reasons why the service was under used was because British Aerospace and Rolls-Royce had different starting and finishing times. <BJ>

[stopblock]

No need to open the old filton junction or the old filton station.The site that is being talked about is closer to parkway station.Just simply build the southbound platform and also build a new island platform on the stoke gifford yard side for increassed capacity.

[MKC]

Its the length of the trains that concerns me.

As an 'insider' - they are building the new buildings on the existing car park over there, thus less parking + more people!

trains (and traffic) will be fun when its finished

[Rich_Eason]

The Evening Post have got the story wrong...its already built, it already exsists and has been there for about 10 years, Bristol and West once rented the building, before the Bank of Ireland, which moved out 2 years ago-ish.

The only work that is being done to the site is that there are obvious works converting the building to the requirements of the now owner along with Remedial Car Park works and landscaping.

AFAIK there are no future building plans to expand and the only other developments are the Redrow housing development oposite and the estate being built behind MoD Abbey Wood.