THE army could move out of Hullavington and South Cerney to a new super base at Lyneham once it is vacated by the RAF next year, according to a paper put before the government by North Wiltshire MP James Gray.

The submission backed by others including Wiltshire Council leader Jane Scott and Wootton Bassett and Cricklade area board chairman Peter Doyle says that the army needs the 1359-acre site and that mothballing it would punch a devastating hole in the local economy.

In her letter to Defence Secretary Liam Fox, Mrs Scott expressed concern that the MOD could use the base simply as a holding camp for soldiers returning from Germany before they were redeployed to a super garrison or mothball the site.

"Both these scenarios would have a severe impact on the local communities of the area, with the mothballing resulting in a £90 million loss to the local economy and a devastating impact on the settlements surrounding RAF Lyneham."

She suggested: "If Lyneham is to be retained, a compelling case can be made for relocating military operations away from sites such as Hullavington and elsewhere, which are increasingly expensive maintain and subject to significant planning constraints to more strategic locations such as Lyneham."

Hullavington could then be released for sale.

And Mr Gray’s briefing notes, produced for a debate in Parliament last week said operations from across Wiltshire could be consolidated at Lyneham.

They stated: "It is understood that there is an opportunity to co-located personnel that are currently based at South Cerney, Hullavington and Colerne at RAF Lyneham.

"However its is imperative that these other military sites are then released for commercial use."

The paper promotes the base as a fully equipped military site larger than other RAF stations that will be vacant late 2012, with easy access to the M4 and the main army training grounds on Salisbury Plain and the Brecon Beacons.

More than £5 million has been spent in recent years on maintaining and upgrading the base, but decontamination costs are expected to be higher than the £10 million MOD estimate.