Royal Regiment of Scotland, Scottish Division, Army

JOHN ROSS
The Scotsman
January 14 2006

THE army has confirmed it has no plans to close historic Fort George near Inverness in the immediate future - allaying fears it would shut under plans to merge Scotland's regiments.

However, it is still unclear for how long the 18th-century stronghold will remain open and what future military role it will have. There was widespread concern the base was being targeted for closure as part of changes to the way the army operates in Scotland.

It was felt that defence bosses favoured abandoning the fort for more modern accommodation for the surviving Scottish battalions, which will be given permanent bases rather than moving around every two or three years.

But an army spokeswoman in Edinburgh said yesterday: "We have no plans at the moment to close Fort George. However, we do not know what its future role will be. There are so many changes going on at the moment."

The fort, currently home to about 500 troops from the Royal Irish Regiment who are due to return from Iraq shortly, pumps about Ł12 million annually into the economy. As well as being a military barracks, it is also used as a visitor attraction and museum by Historic Scotland, which partly manages the site.

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: "Fort George is still fully operational as an historic visitor attraction. We are not aware of any proposed changes in its function in the near future."

The news was welcomed yesterday by Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber. He said: "This is a long-overdue reprieve. But it is still hugely disappointing that the Ministry of Defence is seemingly unwilling to confirm that Fort George does have a guaranteed long-term future. The MoD review has raised a huge amount of uncertainty which was damaging for staff morale."

Mr Ewing said the fort merits upgrading as a barracks for modern-day troops.

"The MoD needs to let us know what they plan to do with Fort George. Will it continue to be used as a barracks and, if so, will they provide the necessary investment to bring it up to 21st-century standards?"

Ruraraidh MacNeil, the head of operations for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise, said: "This will preserve the long and proud history of army involvement in the area, and we look forward to many more years of their involvement."

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