Gliding club launches project to buy wartime heritage airfield

Burn Airfield, near Selby, was one of 12 major airfields operating in the county during the Second World War. It was used to launch Halifax bombers in several vital raids against Germany’s largest cities, including one where RAF pilot Cyril Barton was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

The airfield is currently owned by the soon-to-be-abolished regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, and despite being valued at more than £2m, it is one of 40 undecided assets.

Now following an extraordinary general meeting, the members of the Burn Gliding Club, which has been on the site for nearly 30 years, have launched an ambitious bid to buy the airfield and ensure its future.

The club, which has more than 100 members aged between 13 and 91, is hoping to strike a deal with a group of farmers to take over the 538-acre site, only 42 acres of which is occupied by the airfield.

But spokesman Chris Cooper said, that even without the farmers’ support, an undisclosed bid is soon to be submitted to Yorkshire Forward.

“We feel we stand a good chance and we have the public behind us”, Mr Cooper said.

“We are looking to protect a very important part of the county’s heritage.

“The airfield was used by 578 squadron of Halifax bombers during the second World War and towards the end of 1944 launched some very significant bombing raids to the major cities in Germany.

“We still get families coming to see us from all over the world.

“We have quite a lot of connections with the armed services and we also provide a service to the local community.

“It will be very sad if that heritage is lost.”

The airfield – which was strafed by Luftwaffe planes during the Second World War – has also come under threat several times in recent years.

It was one of three sites earmarked by North Yorkshire County Council for a hugely controversial incinerator site – which has since been placed at Allerton Park between Harrogate and York – while £1bn plans to build a European Spallation Source project at the site, a science development creating around 2,000 jobs, also fell through.

The Burn Gliding Club has leased the site for the past 28 years but its current lease expires in February 2012, one month before Yorkshire Forward folds.

Discussions have also taken place for Yorkshire Forward to place the land in a council-managed trust instead of on the open market, but the Yorkshire Post understands the Government has indicated this will not now go-ahead.

Gliding club chairman Tony Flannery said: “We are determined to stay at Burn Airfield and have the support of residents.

“I am therefore delighted that our members have approved and will support a bid to purchase the land that we require.

“We therefore look forward to working with Yorkshire Forward, the local farmers and the local council to achieve a fair solution to all parties.”

North Yorkshire was seen as a crucial base for the RAF during the Second World War because of its central location in the country and close proximity to the east coast.

Bombing raids were often dispatched from North Yorkshire’s airfields as it was one of the shortest routes to Germany, while the Luftwaffe regularly targeted the area in return.

The aircraft, including Halifax and Wellington bombers, and the airmen who flew them, made a vital contribution to the outcome of the war.

Yorkshire Forward says it is unable to comment on the plans owing to political restrictions ahead of the May elections.