Concern over plans to expand RAF St Athan.Byline: Tryst Williams tr yst.williams@wme.co.uk MAJOR expansion plans for RAF St Athan St Athan (Welsh: Sain Tathan) is a village in the Vale of Glamorgan in south east Wales. The English name is a corruption of the Welsh female saint Tathan, described by Iolo Morgannwg as the daughter of the King of Gwent. are set to be given a bumpy ride at a meeting in the Vale today. Pensioners living in mobile homes near a possible runway extension fear their dreams of a tranquil retirement could be shattered by large jets thundering overhead. The concerns follow an announcement by the Welsh Development Agency The Welsh Development Agency (WDA) was an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB) established in 1976 to encourage business development and investment in Wales. These responsibilities have since been devolved to the Welsh Assembly Government's Department of Economy and Transport. (WDA WDA Wireless Digital Assistant WDA Workforce Development Area WDA Welsh Development Agency (UK government) WDA Workforce Development Agency (Singapore) WDA Wildlife Disease Association ) that an eastward runway extension through the village of St Athan is ``highly unlikely''. Homeowners on the outskirts of nearby Llantwit Major believe this could pave the way for a half-mile extension westward towards Boverton and Trebeferad. Robbie Robinson, chairman of the Ham Lane Residents' Association, told the Echo: ``We're directly under the flight path. ``Our walls are only two inches thick and the noise would be horrendous. These homes are not in a position to be sound-proofed any more than they are already.'' The 73-year-old, a former aeronautical aer·o·nau·tic also aer·o·nau·ti·cal adj. Of or relating to aeronautics. aer  o·nau inspector at St Athan, lives
on Ham Manor Park, a caravan park that is home to 132 people. Almost all
the residents are in their 60s, 70s and 80s.
The meeting, to be held at Llantwit Major Comprehensive School at 7pm, has been called by representatives of the WDA, the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) and the Army. The meeting is also expected to touch upon the Red Dragon Project, which involves build-ing a massive hangar at the base as the new home for DARA, as well as plans to build an aerospace business park and move 600 Welsh Guards onto the base next year. However, a decision on the Red Dragon Project has been put on hold while the Government carries out a review of the Defence Logistics Organisations, which includes DARA. A WDA spokesman said: ``This meeting has been requested by Llantwit residents as a result of the previous St Athan public meeting when we told them in all likelihood that the runway would go west rather than east. The people of St Athan were assured by that. ``But, obviously, if it heads west it starts being of concern to the people of Boverton and Llantwit.'' |
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