The 1st Battalion The Royal Gurkha Rifles are among those based at Shorncliffe barracks

by Sam Lennon

Freed-up land at a shrunken Shorncliffe barracks site in Folkestone will be used for 1,200 new homes.

The Ministry of Defence intends to reconfigure the Shorncliffe Garrison site onto a smaller, more secure site, allowing obsolete areas to be released for civilian housing.

Working with Shepway District Council, the MOD's property and services provider has now prepared a masterplan that provides new housing over the next 20 years on the surplus brownfield land.

Alongside the homes will be new sports facilities, incorporating a new Army Cadet centre. There will also be a large area of public open space and improved education facilities.

The land is being sold to raise money for the MOD to modernise the rest of the military estate and to reduce running costs.

Replacement facilities for the Army will start to be built this year as part of a rolling programme of improvements at Shorncliffe and Lydd Camp.

Brigadier Simon Wolsey, (pictured left) Commander 2 (South East) Brigade, said: "This project is mutually beneficial in that it will see the disposal of unused land in order that purpose-built modern accommodation can be provided.

"At the same time this will provide much-needed space for housing to our local community."

As part of the Army's 2020 restructure, HQ 2 (South East) Brigade will merge with HQ 145 (South) Brigade in 2014 to form a new headquarters in Aldershot, known as 11 Infantry Brigade.

However, there are no other plans to change the Army's use of Shorncliffe.