AN army training ground is set to be sold off to make way for new homes, it has been announced.

Middlewick Ranges, off Mersea Road in Colchester, is one of 13 sites set out by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as being "no longer a long-term Defence requirement".

The MoD hopes to raise £225 million with the sale and provide land for up to 17,000 homes across the country.

Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, said thousands of new homes are to be built on the sites and the money the land is sold for will be reinvested in defence.

He said: "We are getting rid of land that we don’t need to build homes that we do, generating hundreds of millions of pounds in the process.

"Our commitment to protect and increase the budget for our armed forces means that every penny of that will be reinvested into defence, helping to keep Britain safe."

The news also comes as Network Rail announces plans to unlock land for 12,000 new homes by 2020.

Almost 200 sites across the country have been identified as offering development opportunities for housing.

The sites that will be sold include: 

  • Plymouth headquarters of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines at Stonehouse
  • Royal Military Police HQ and Defence School of Policing and Guarding at Southwick Park, in Fareham, Hampshire
  • RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire
  • Chalgrove airfield in Oxfordshire
  • Colerne airfield and the Azimghur barracks near Chippenham, Wiltshire
  • the Prince William of Gloucester barracks in Grantham
  • the Venning and Parsons barracks in Telford
  • Middlewick Ranges
  • Amport House in Andover, Hampshire
  • land at Old Dalby in Leicestershire and Harley Hill in North Yorkshire.