Journal of Rural Studies. Vol. 15, No. I, pp. 17-33, 1999 © 1998 Else,,ier Science Ltd

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Gunning for Rural England: the Politics of the Promotion of Military Land Use in the

Northumberland National Park

Rachel Woodward

Centre for Rural Economy, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK

Abstract - - The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) on behalf of the armed forces owns substantial areas of land in the UK. Interest in the use and management of this l and- the defence es ta te- has grown in the 1990s following changes in land use as a consequence of the restructuring of the armed forces. This paper examines the portrayal of military land use by the MoD, using a conceptual framework informed by theories of discourse and the social construction of rurality. Empirical evidence is drawn from a 1997 public inquiry into developments proposed by the MoD to the Otterburn Training Area in the Northumberland National Park. The paper examines how military training in a national park is constructed as a legiti- mate use of this space, with reference to discourses of conservation and environ- mental protection. The paper goes on to examine the ways in which the landscape of the training area is portrayed with reference to discourses about the appearance and consumption of the countryside. The paper concludes by looking at the effect of discourses of defence and national security in shaping the Otterburn debate, and in shaping the claims of the armed forces as defenders of the natural environment. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction portrayals of the OTA. The paper starts with a discussion of the British defence estate and the rele- vance of its examination to rural studies. I then This paper is about the politics of military land use. introduce the conceptual and methodological frame- It has two aims. The first is to present the results of work within which the analysis of empirical material empirical research on the portrayal of military land is set, and provide some contextual information on use by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and to

discuss the inferences we can draw from these the Otterburn Public Inquiry. In the analysis of portrayals. The second aim is to contribute to a empirical material, I concentrate on two sets of current conceptual debate in rural studies on the arguments put forward by the MoD to justify the utility of a conceptualization of the rural as discur- physical developments they proposed. One of these

concerned the impacts of military training on the sively constructed. In order to do this, the paper draws on a case study of the evidence presented to a natural environment of a protected landscape. The 1997 public inquiry which examined the develop- other concerned the portrayal of the landscape of ments proposed for the Otterburn Training Area the OTA in terms which enabled the MoD to argue (OTA) in Northumberland. I argue that at this that their proposed developments would have a inquiry, the MoD drew upon a number of portrayals minimal impact. In examining both sets of argu- of the OTA in order to support an argument about ments, I concentrate on their discursive nature and their training needs in this space. These portrayals effects. I conclude by looking at how discourses of of the form and function of Otterburn, I shall argue, defence and national security shape the MoD's drew on a number of discourses, the examination of claims about this particular space and their actions which sheds light on the political function of the upon it.

17

18 Rachel Woodward

Why study the defence estate? Military training and the natural environment

The MoD is a major landowner in the UK. The The impact of military activity on the natural defence estate, the term used to denote lands owned environment is a thorny issue, over which commen- or leased by the MoD for defence-related purposes, tators are largely divided. For some, military is reputedly the second largest single landholding in training and warfare can have identifiable and the UK, at around 227000 ha (561000 acres). Leases unacceptable adverse environmental impacts (Prins are held enabling certain activities (mostly training) and Stamp, 1991). Others would argue that policies to take place over a further 270000 ha and land management practices deployed by the (667000 acres). About 2% of the land area of the modern armed forces ensure that the environmental UK is controlled or used in some way by the MoD. impact, at least of military training, is minimal The defence estate serves many purposes, and (MoD, 1995a). This debate is not easily resolved includes research establishments, barracks and (and I don't attempt to do so here). In the British camps, storage and supply depots, telecommunica- context, it has an additional twist because National tions stations and naval bases. The biggest single Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty purpose however is the provision of land for military provide the armed forces with some of their largest training. Training areas account for 66.1% of the training areas, particularly for live firing. For defence estate (House of Commons Defence example, 22% of Northumberland, 15% of Dart- Committee, 1994). The largest of t hese - the eight moor, 5% of the Pembrokeshire Coast and 1% of Army Field Training Centres- are located at Sails- the Brecon Beacons National Parks are used for bury Plain in Wiltshire, Sennybridge in Powys, military training, totalling some 44247ha (3%)of

national park land nationally (National Parks Catterick in North Yorkshire, Stanford in Norfolk, Cinque Ports in Kent, Castlemartin in Pembroke- Review Panel, 1991). The compatibility or otherwise shire, Warcop in Cumbria and the Otterburn in of National Park purposes and military training

requirements has generated significant debate since Northumberland. The defence estate is mostly rural the inception of National Parks in 1945. Successive in location, dominating some parts of the British governments have argued that compatibility is

countryside, possible whilst recognizing the difficulties that reconciling two land uses might pose. As the then

There has been relatively little academic research to Government noted in its response to the Report of date on the nature of land use on the British the 1973 Defence Lands Committee (also known as defence estate, with most scholarly attention focused the Nugent Report): on the consequences for the defence estate of the restructuring of the armed forces under the Options ...the very factors of remoteness and freedom from for Change programme since its inception in 1990 human interference that make areas ones of great (see Coulson, 1995; Coulson and Baldwin, 1995; natural beauty, also made them suitable for the Armed

Forces, who need space and freedom to carry out their Farrington, 1995; Savege et al., 1995; BICC, 1996 ; activities. There is no easy way out of this dilemma. Savege, 1997; Doxford and Hill, 1998; Woodward, Public interest demands both that the Armed Forces 1996, 1998a). Analysis of the British experience still should be properly trained and equipped and that they lags considerably behind a more wide-ranging litera- should take up as little land as possible for their

purposes (Statement on the Report of the Defence ture documenting the North American experience of Lands Committee, 1974, p. 1) conversion in the post-Cold War period and the

environmental impacts of military training and Baroness Sharp's report on the continued use of warfare in the USA and elsewhere [see for example Dartmoor for military training (Sharp, 1977) noted, Misrach (1990); Markusen and Yudken (1992); in a now well-worn phrase, that military training is Davis (1993); Loomis (1993); Seager (1993); Cawley "discordant, incongruous and inconsistent" with and Lawrence (1995); Dycus (1996); Waft (1997)]. national park purposes. As she pointed out,

however: Its size and the absence of critical inquiry apart, there are two sets of reasons why the study of the ...neither Parliament nor successive Governments have British defence estate, and military activities upon it, ever accepted that they [national park purposes] are

paramount. They must be balanced against other constitutes an interesting and challenging area for objectives of national policy. There may be circum- critical social scientific inquiry. These reasons relate stances in which the proven needs of defence must take to the relationships between military training and precedence (Sharp, 1977, p.3) the natural environment, and issues about the repre- sentation of place, space and landscape by the The 1991 National Parks Review Panel, led by Ron armed forces. Edwards, took a different view. Their report echoed

Gunning for rural England 19

Sharp's words on the discordance, incongruity and criticized by the Public Accounts Committee, House inconsistency of military training with national park of Commons (1993) in similar vein, in response to purposes and recommended discontinuance as a which the Army developed a computerized system long-term objective (National Parks Review Panel, enabling training land requirements to be matched 1991). The Government rejected this call, stating to training land holdings. The most systematic that military training in national parks looked likely recent review of defence lands was conducted by the to continue for the foreseeable future in the absence House of Commons Defence Committee (1994), of alternative areas (Department of the Environ- with the publication of its Report on the Defence ment, 1992). This issue has caused considerable Estate. The Committee inquiry was prompted by debate amongst countryside agencies and commen- restructuring of the armed forces under the Options tators (see Owens, 1990a,b; Council for National for Change programme (MoD, 1991), the draw- Parks, 1993; Countryside Commission, 1994). down of troops from Germany, a growing awarcness

of the possible environmental impacts of defence Tied in with the debate about the compatibility of training and the introduction of new weapons national parks with military training are arguments systems requiring space for training. It was by no as to whether the armed forces actually need to use means comprehensive in its scope, and in fact the amount of land that they do for military recommended that a full public inquiry into the training. Again, this is a polarized debate. On the defence estate would not be productive at that time. one hand, there are those who would argue that the It did note, however, that a comprehensive review armed forces need space in which to train, that this would become necessary by the end of the decade space is under ever-increasing pressure due to the "if there were to be continuing evidence of short- draw-down of troops from Germany, and that there comings in MoD's estate policy and practice" is a short-fall in appropriate training lands as a (House of Commons Defence Committee, 1994, consequence (MoD, 1997a). On the other hand, p. vii). some have argued that military land use is poorly managed and utilized and should be subject to inde- These debates within central government on the pendent review (Doxford and Hill, 1998). Compre- environmental destructiveness, or otherwise, of mili- hensive assessments of the defence estate by tary land use, the compatibility of training with government, the ultimate adjudicator on this issue, national park purposes and the possibility of a have been minimal. The report of the Defence reduction in the amount of land used for defence- Lands Committee remains the only full examination related purposes have been taken up by a range of of defencc land holdings in the post-war period. The voluntary sector organizations since the early 1990s Committee, reporting in 1973, focused mainly on including the Council for National Parks, the changes that could be made to the Armed Forces' Council for the Protection of Rural Enghmd, organi- holdings, with recommendations to release some of zations within the broad countryside lobby such as this land (Defence Lands Committee, 1973). These the Countryside Commission and the Association of findings were duly accepted by the Government. National Park Authorities, and a number of smaller There have been no comprehensive and publicly voluntary cnvironmental and amenity bodies. These available reviews of the defence estate since the debates have received added impetus from feminist Nugcnt Report. The so-called Barron Report into environmentalist action (seen at the women's peace the army's present and future land use needs, camp at Greenham Common in Berkshire, UK)and conducted internally by the MoD in 1988, was never a feminist critique of militarism (Enloe, 1988; released for public scrutiny. More recently, the Seager, 1993; Roseneil, 1995; Turpin and Lorentzen, National Parks Review Panel called for a national 1996). These debates have also been pushed forward strategic review of military training needs, a recom- by geopolitical changes- namely the end of the mendation supported by the Countryside Commis- so-called Cold War-which have raised the possi- sion (National Parks Review Panel, 1991 ; bility of a "peace dividend" of material and financial Countryside Commission, 1991). The Government benefits to national economies and local communi- rejected this call, simply saying that an inquiry ties accruing as a result of associated defence would not serve a useful purpose at that time restructuring. Leaving aside the criticisms that have (Department of the Environment, 1992) but subse- been made of the notion of a "peace dividend" and quently some aspects of defence estate management an associated "new world order" (Chomsky, 1994; have been scrutinized. For example, the National Lovering, 1994), it appears that public interest in Audit Office reported in 1992 on the apparent military land use is growing. See, for example, the mis-match between MoD land holdings and use of interest sparked by Patrick Wright's study of the these by the armed forces; it appeared that these military occupation of Tyneham in Dorset (Wright, substantial holdings were not being fully used 1996), or the issues currently being raised in (National Audit Office, 1992). The MoD was also disputes over access to common land at Warcop in

20 Rachel Woodward

Cumbria (Goodwin, 1997). The level of national Duncan, 1992, p. 8). Analyses of discourse vary interest in the future of the OTA, if gauged in terms along a continuum, from the loose appropriation of of national media coverage and letters to the the term to describe the frames of reference for Inspector from members of the public, would also particular narratives, to the conceptualization of appear to be a case in point. For all the above discourse rooted in linguistic theory, with its analysis reasons, the study of the environmental repercus- orientated towards a more fine-grained textual sions of military training make this an interesting analysis. The idea that the social world can be and challenging area for research, investigated through an analysis of the discourses

through which that social world is constructed has proved popular in rural studies. Along with the

The representation of space, place and landscape cultural geography literature outlined above and developments in post-structuralist social theory, it

The second set of reasons prompting this study of has fuelled some lively and interesting debates, the politics of military land use stem from the broad familiar to readers of this journal since the early academic literature on the social construction and 1990s, on the conceptualization of rurality. In a representation of space, place and landscape, and nutshell, this debate suggests a new conceptualiza- the politics of such constructions. A rich cultural tion of the rural, moving away from the idea of the geography literature has emerged over the past two rural as a bounded, located space where rurality decades arguing for a critical appraisal of the notion suggests a real object, or a landscape quality or a of landscape as a cultural construct. This literature particular configuration of social and economic has emphasized the idea of landscape as a text, to practices. Instead, many now argue for a conceptual- be read in order to understand its meanings; land- ization of the rural as a discursive construction; scapes may be approached as documents on the people living both within and outwith rural localities power plays from which social life is constructed, constitute rurality in particular ways through the use both materially and rhetorically (Cosgrove and of discourses and language. These constructions can Daniels, 1988; Anderson and Gale, 1992). The idea be 'read' and understood in order to develop an of landscape as a text which is communicative, understanding of the social and political relations productive of meaning and variable has provided an underpinning such constructions (Philo, 1993; Halfa- attractive framework for the analysis of landscape in cree, 1993, 1995; Jones, 1995; Murdoch and Pratt, much cultural geography [see for example essays in 1993 , 1994; Pratt, 1996). Central to this Barnes and Duncan (1992) and Kearns and Philo re-conceptualization of the rural is the argument for (1993)]. This approach has much to offer the study the recognition of the existence of multiple interpre- of military landscapes. As Jacky Tivers illustrates in tations of rurality; there is no single discursive her examination of Aldershot as the "Home of the construction of rurality in operation but many. An British Army", iconographic readings of military important task for rural studies is therefore the landscapes can uncover the symbolic meanings identification of the shape and nature of these wrapped up in the physical appearance of such constructions and their variety. Furthermore: places (Tivers, 1998).

Whilst one may accept that there are thus a multiplicity This paper, however, does not pursue the idea of of meanings all of 'equal' value what is significant here

is power. Though we may not be able to point to a military landscape as text. This research was not 'true' rurality, it may be possible to identify certain stimulated initially by a reading of the landscape of discourses about rurality that serve to enable and places such as the OTA, but rather by a reading of support the reproduction of particular uneven social the statements about these landscapes, produced by relations, economic distributions and social stratifica-

tions. (Pratt, 1996, p. 70) the MoD. What appeared interesting were the ways in which the space, place and landscape of the OTA were described, and the functions of these descrip- The conceptual framework and methodological tions. In short, it is the analysis of military approach suggested by the notion of rural as discur- discourses about landscape that provided the sively constructed as much to offer the study of the impetus of this research and this paper, use of rural space. It provides insight into the

construction of some rural land uses as more 'appro- The terms "discourse" and "discourse analysis" are priate' than others; see, for example, the analysis of used to describe a variety of approaches towards the the relationships between discourses of leisure study of the construction of social life. Discourses policy and the commodification and management of may be defined as "frameworks that embrace the countryside (see Clark et al., 1994). It provides particular combinations of narratives, concepts, insight into the competing moralities that shape ideologies and signifying practices, each relevant to interpretations of land uses; see for example Lowe a particular realm of social action" (Barnes and et al. (1997) on the moral discourses of rurality and

Gunning for rural England 21

environmentalism that have shaped policy and native dominance" rather than a positivistic adjudi- public debates on farm pollution, cation of the MoD's case (Anderson and Gale, 1992,

p.7). The notion of the rural as discursively constructed also has much to offer the study of the armed forces' use of the defence estate (Woodward, 1996). The 1997 Otterburn Public Inquiry It provides a means of stepping beyond the study of defence lands in terms of their use, management The non-statutory public local inquiry (hereafter and functions (the dominant approach to the study OPI) into the OTA was called by the then Secretary of the defence estate), and towards an investigation of State for the Environment in 1996 following an of these lands in terms of how they are described by objection by the local planning authority, Northum- the armed forces, portrayed by the armed forces for berland County Council, and the Northumberland public consumption and the modes of representation National Park Authority to the MoD's development used in description and portrayal. But looking at proposals for the OTA. The OTA consists of description, portrayal and representation is only part 22 908 ha of upland constituting 22% of the North- of the story. Discourses also have a naturalizing umberland National Park, which lies in the county function in that they naturalize or universalize a of Northumberland in the North East of England particular view of the world and the position of (see Fig. 1). The Notice of Proposed Development subjects within it. They set the limits within which (NoPD), first submitted to the local planning ideas and practices are considered 'natural'. They authority in April 1995, notified the local planning are also situated, in that they provide partial, authority of the MoD's intention to carry out situated interpretations of the world, characterized physical developments to the infrastructure at the by specific configurations of power and knowledge, OTA. These developments were required because, constantly open to contestation, negotiation and following geopolitical changes in Eastern Europe interruption (Gregory, 1994). In short, they are and restructuring of the armed forces under the political in that they shape and inform social prac- Options for Change programme, training facilities tice. In terms of the armed forces, such an approach had been lost in Germany with the drawdown of suggests that we look at the function of discourses troops from there. The army argued that it needed deployed by the military with reference to the somewhere to train its troops using the Multiple defence estate, as well as at their form. Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and the AS90, a

self-propelled tracked artillery system. The MoD This paper does just that. I examine the representa- argued that the only suitable location for training tion of the OTA and the politics behind these repre- with these artillery systems was the OTA because it sentations, looking first at how military training in a has an impact area large enough to accommodate National Park is constructed as a legitimate use of live firing by MLRS and AS90, which have a sub- this space with reference to discourses of conserva- stantial range. However, this required alterations to tion and environmental protection, and second, at the infrastructure of the training area because of the how the landscape of the training area is portrayed physical condition of the OTA; heavy artillery with reference to discourses about the appearance systems sink into soft peat. In brief, the NoPD and consumption of the countryside. I then go on to contained proposals for the modification of 17 look at the silences in the presentation of the OTA existing guns spurs (hardstandings measuring either by the military, attributing the absence of discussion 23 m × 35 m or 56 m × 25 m), the construction of 24 of war in debates about Otterburn to the power of new gun spurs (with both modified and new being discourses about defence and national security. This grouped into Gun Deployment Areas with some account does not use discourse analysis in the sense additional associated infrastructure I, nine new of linguistically-derived techniques of fine-grained accommodation blocks at Otterburn camp, a 5-ha textual analysis (see Fairclough, 1992, Chap. 1). The Central Maintenance Facility for the new guns, the intention is rather the identification of discursive upgrading of 57.5 km of roads and the construction constructions within a broader military narrative of 15.3 km of new stone tracks (MoD, 1997b). about their activities, as a means of understanding the politics of that narrative. Nor is it my intention The terms of reference for the public inquiry were to either substantiate or refute the claims made by wide-ranging and included the extent to which the the MoD with regard to issues such as conservation, proposals conflicted with development plans; any The point of this methodology is not the establish- conflict with Planning Policy Guidance Note 7 on ment of the validity or truth of such claims but, as I development in the countryside; the implications of outline above, to identify how ideas and arguments development for the purposes and character of the which may or may not be valid are naturalized. The Northumberland National Park; questions as to point is the examination of the "struggle for imagi- whether the infrastructure proposed constituted the

22 Rachel Woodward

Tweed

o °

I Yetholm !ii~i :I~-+i;! ~i?~'I11!75"~!~,>)!i !~7,,, ,11i i

o UPON TYNE

M o D O t t e r b u r n ~ . . . . . . ~ , Trai n i n g A r e a ~olystoned~===~ROTHBURY

KIELDER WATER

~i - % Location of I~erburn Training Area

.INGHAM ~ MoO training area

Northumberland National Park

N

k 0 5 Idlometres _.~ I r ~ i ~ I

I ' ~ i i I

0 5 miles

Haydon Bridge

Figure l. Location map showing the OTA and Northumberland National Park (Ann Rooke).

Gunning for rural England 23

irreducible minimum necessary to meet military sitional culture were presented, refuted, repeated training requirements; the implications for highways and denied. Furthermore, I would argue that the and transport of the proposals; any implications for OPI provided a forum for the expression of a local residents, their properties and the local number of competing discourses of rurality. Obser- economy; and "any other relevant matter which may vation of the intersection of these discourses be raised at the inquiry" (Government Office for the provided a unique window onto the form and North East, 1996). The major players in this drama substance of portrayals of place and space were the MoD aided by a number of consultants, constructed by the parties involved, the understand- the National Park Authority and Northumberland ings of space and place which underpin these County Council working together, and a consortium portrayals, and the political interests served by these of voluntary organizations and amenity groups portrayals and understandings. In short, we saw at co-ordinated by the Council for National Parks the OPI the politics of the social construction of including the Ramblers Association, the Northum- space and the discursive construction of rurality, in berland and Newcastle Society, the Natural History action. An account of the interaction between Society of Northumbria, the Association of Country- different discourses is written up elsewhere (see side Voluntary Wardens, the Youth Hostels Associ- Woodward, 1998b). In this paper, I concentrate ation, the Council for the Protection of Rural solely on the MoD's arguments. By doing this, I am England at national and local levels and the Open by no means suggesting that the social construction Spaces Society. The OPI sat for a total of 57 of space is an attribute claimed exclusively by the working days between April and October 1997. MoD. The social construction of space and place is

a function of all individuals and organizations, The OPI was ostensibly a local planning debate, but including amenity societies and national park had wider significance for two reasons. The first authorities. For example, the notion of "Remote relates to a possible explanation for the lack of and lonely hills, wide horizons and big skies; North- research on the defence estate, namely the lack of umberland National Park is unique in its sense of available information on land holdings and land use space and the breadth of its historical legacy" practices. An organizational culture within the (Northumberland National Park, 1993) is as much a armed forces and MoD, limiting the provision of social construction as those portrayals of the OTA information in the interests of 'national security', by the MoD that I discuss in this paper. I merely acts as a block to effective research. For this reason, choose the representations constructed by the MoD the OPI had great significance. It provided a unique as one line of investigation within a broader explora- opportunity to examine, within a public domain, tion of the portrayal of the OTA [for this, see information on the many issues relating to the Woodward (1998b)]. MoD's use and management of their holdings, both within and beyond Northumberland. Whilst a public To do this, I draw on a long period of observation at inquiry may not provide the ideal forum for discus- the Inquiry, on published documentation about mili- sion and debate about the nature and usage of the tary training at Otterburn and across the defence defcncc estate, as David Doxford and Jim Savege estate more generally, and on the unpublished docu- note (Doxford and Savege, 1995), in the absence of mentation submitted by the MoD to the Public a national review of defence lands the information Inquiry. Public inquiries are by their very nature provided in this forum was invaluable. Furthermore, adversarial encounters. An argument is put forward in the course of the OPI the MoD was pressed to by the scheme's proponents (in this instance the provide information on the management and use of MoD), and this is then subject to cross-examination army training lands that has previously not been and counter-argument by the opposition. Rebuttal publicly available, evidence may then be put forward in response. This

poses both advantages and problems for an analysis The second point of significance is that the OPI of such arguments. The re-iteration of a point from provided a forum for the interplay of the politics of a number of angles can provide significant insight military land use as expressed by a number of into the construction of an argument, but points can different organizations. The OPI witnessed the also be obscured through over-kill; in the interests intersection of competing arguments over the most of a coherent narrative I have not placed each piece appropriate land use for this area and conflicts of evidence discussed here within the chronological between the discourses in which these arguments context of the overall MoD's argument as it were expressed. An inquiry into a local planning unfolded. More obviously, I have not attempted to issue became, 1 would argue, a theatre in which draw together all points of debate, nor all the ideologies and supporting discourses of national supporting discourses that contribute towards each security, natural heritage, access rights, landscape point of debate (a mammoth task, given the scope evaluation, development control, localism and oppo- of the Inquiry). The arguments and discourses I

24 Rachel Woodward

discuss here are those in which the form and func- Forces. It must be appreciated that, in view of the many tion of Otterburn, and the form and function of that other pressures upon the nation's land resources, the

areas available for military training are very restricted. portrayal, appeared most transparent. These relate This inevitably means that those areas, such as OTA, to conservation and environmental protection, and which are designated military training grounds, must be to the appearance and consumption of landscape. It used to the full, and developed to meet changing needs, is to these I now turn. in order to satisfy training requirements. Therefore

military training needs are of paramount importance in the management of the Otterburn estate. (MoD, 1990,

Justifying guns in the park p. 8)

Similarly, a 1992 Forestry Management Plan empha-

The MoD's proposals for the development of infra- sizes the priority for training. Management Objec- structure at the OTA had to be justified. A case had tive Number One is "To fulfil military training to be made in order to convince the Inspector at the requirements and to enhance the training value of OPI that there were adequate grounds for permis- OTA". The protection of woodland with high sion to be granted for the developments. Some of habitat and landscape value and the provision of the justification, obviously enough, lay with the shelter for farms and military buildings come second needs of the British artillery to have access to areas and third (MoD, 1992). A 1993 Strategic Estate in which they could train using these large weapons Management Plan states that "The sole reason for systems. Justification lay in other areas too, not least MoD holding land is to provide training facilities", the MoD's case that heavy artillery training would and emphasizes that "The land holding of OTA is not compromise two key National Park principles - held by the MoD for one purpose only - to provide the conservation of the natural beauty, wildlife and a realistic training facility for the Armed Forces"

cultural heritage of the designated area, and the (MoD, 1993, pp. 13 and 84). Furthermore, the promotion of opportunities for understanding and priority accorded to military training provides a enjoyment of national park qualities by the public.* justification for general development there:

Given the fact that the designation of National Park status confers upon such areas the highest possible The military training requirement is the paramount

concern in the management of OTA and it must be degree of statutory protection, under town and recognized that if the training area is to provide the country planning legislation and government plan- facilities to train our modern Army to an acceptable ning policy guidance the MoD had to convince the standard, it can not be frozen in time, but must be inquiry not only that it needed to use this space, but allowed to develop to accommodate the changing also that it would do no harm to it. In this section I requirements. (MoD, 1993, p. 84)

examine the arguments made by the MoD to justify However, with the emergence of proposals for the deployment of heavy artillery in a National Park, physical development at Otterburn, a new argument focusing on how they draw on discourses of about the function of OTA emerged. "The OTA is conservation and of environmental protection, not exclusively a military training area" stated an

An essential first step for the MoD at the Public early outline of the plans (MoD, 1994). In 1997 at Inquiry was to establish the purpose of the OTA. the Public Inquiry, the MoD defined the OTA as:

This was foundational to most of the subsequent [...] a Hill Farming Estate of 22900 hectares arguments and discursive strategies about the use of comprising 31 farms on full Agricultural Tenancies. Otterburn. Historically, the MoD has always With the exception of the two camps and the wood- portrayed the OTA as solely a military training area. lands, all of the training area is farmed, including all of The MoD 1990 Conservation Management Plan for the Danger Areas. (MoD/P/4, 1997 p. 5)

the OTA puts it bluntly: This shift in emphasis was important; in providing

The MoD holds its estate at Otterburn for one reason - space for farming, discourses of land management to provide realistic training facilities for the Armed and stewardship can be deployed. The presence of

farming on the OTA is treated carefully in the *Although both conservation and access issues were portrayals produced by the MoD; upland hillfarming debated at the OPI, I deal mainly with conservation here; access to the training area is restricted to designated rights is presented as completely compatible with military of way and permissive footpaths, open on specified days of training. For example, the MoD argue that grazing the year. A slight increase in public access was proposed by sheep results in vegetation control, which, we are by the MoD as a result of the developments. Although told, is particularly important in the Impact Areas organizations such as the Open Spaces Society and the where live firing takes place posing a fire risk Ramblers Association opposed the development plans, there was no significant debate on access issues on the through combustion of vegetation. After all, training area, because of the bye-laws restricting public "suspension of live firing to fight fires results in loss access into the danger area. of valuable training time" (MoD/P/2, 1997, p. 5).

Gunning for rural England 25

Grazing practices are presented as being important in each training area. The army's Train Green video in the retention of varied habitats and terrain which, instructs soldiers on methods of environmentally- the MoD argued, is of value to military training. The aware training activities. In 1996 the MoD signed a MoD talked of a "beneficial co-existence of farming much-publicized Declaration of Intent with English and military training" (MoD/P/4, 1997, p. 43). The Nature giving undertakings on the protection of developments proposed for the OTA were endangered habitats on the defence estate (insofar supported by justifications on this theme. For as this does not compromise training requirements). example: An Environmental Policy Statement presented in

the 1996 Statement on Defence Estimates provides The provision of additional hardstandings in the form for environmental sensitivity in military activities, of gun spurs will be of benefit in providing useful hard unless defence requirements dictate otherwise winter feeding stations for livestock. This would help to (MoD, 1996). A public relations campaign ensures minimize poaching that normally exists around feed stations and the manure and grass seed would assist in that the efforts of the MoD to conserve the rich 'greening-up' and therefore obscuring the gun spurs natural heritage of the defence estate is brought to from view. (MoD/R/4/I, 1997, p. 14) public attention. A regular glossy publication, Sanc-

tuary, details the activities of local conservation This portrayal of the compatibility of military groups across the UK and beyond. The argument training with extensive sheep farming is deliberate that military training might bc environmentally and strategic. It dismisses a (common?) perception destructive is silenced by the portrayal of soldiers that the two uses might be contradictory and instead and nature living and working in harmony on the presents them as mutually beneficial (although the defence estate: 80-odd sheep allegedly killed per year by live ammunition in the impact area might disagree). Because much Army land lies untouched by develop- Furthermore, the tenancy agreements with farmers ment, the plants flourish, the invertebrates prosper and on the OTA, which emphasize the extensive nature the birds and mammals find ideal homes. Wildlife show

remarkable tolerance of the noise of exercise battle. of sheep farming on the ranges, low stocking rates Pied Wagtails nest with equanimity under tank bridges, and minimal drainage and fertilization of rough Barn Owls watch troop action from homes made out of pasture, is presented as a positive benefit of the surplus ammunition boxes, while rare bats roost in the presence of the military. As well as providing good darkness of pillboxes. (MoD, 1995a, p. 15) terrain in which to train, it has preserved a type of landscape (rough heather moorland) that has "The blackcock" for example, "is at home on the disappeared elsewhere in the northern uplands, range" (MoD, 1997c). This is a discursive construc- Other examples include the judicious planting of tion, of crater-as-habitat perhaps. It is an framework broad-leaved woodland and conifers on the training of social practices- the presentation of environ- area, a strategy presented as serving the dual func- mental management and conservation activities- tion of providing cover for infantry in training and which gives meaning to the defence estate, in that it contributing to National Park conservation and land enables us to consider the possibility that military management plans: training may not be the environmentally damaging

activity that some commentators suggest it must be The maintenance of the traditional extensive moorland (Westing, 1990; Seager, 1993; K~ik6nen, 1994; landscape with the variation provided by sheltered Thomas, 1995). This discursive strategy is ubiquitous wooded valleys and small woodland blocks, with more

across the defence estate, as Patrick Wright illu- enclosed agricultural landscapes on the margins, is important for both military training and conservation, strates with reference to Dorset (Wright, 1996) and (MoD/P/7, 1997, p. 14) Deidre Shields observes on Porton Down (Shields,

1996). At Otterburn, this strategy enables evcn quite The portrayal of land management practices draws environmentally destructive activities to be directly on (often paternalistic) discourses of stew- presented as conservatory. For cxample, ardship and land husbandry to support arguments that the proposed developments and training activi- Military training activities themselves can be of benefit ties would be compatible with agriculture, in conservation terms. For example, many mires and

blanket bog areas have been adversely affected by agri- cultural drainage in the past. Drainage results in a loss

The development plans were also justified to the of vegetation diversity and a reduction in insect popula- Public Inquiry in terms of their conservation bene- tions. Shell craters from artillery firing help to maintain fits. The MoD is very proud of its conservation waterlogged conditions and as the holes are gradually record on the defence estate. For example, a dedi- colonized, a diverse habitat is created which supports a

varied insect population. The availability of insects in cated conservation team at the Defence Estate the spring is particularly important to the survival of Organization (Lands) in Chessington provides a chicks of many ground nesting bird species. (MoD/P/4, central focus for smaller conservation groups active 1997, pp. 7-8)

26 Rachel Woodward

The presentation of conservation as compatible with (as one would expect at a planning inquiry) was military training is a discursive strategy in that it through the interpretation of planning legislation draws on a specific understanding of what conserva- [and space precludes a full discussion of that here: tion is, which enables military activities to continue see Woodward (1998b)]. Another way in which this whilst being presented in an environmentally- happened was through the interpretation of the friendly manner. The following quotation illustrates spirit of that legislation. The protection afforded to that understanding: the OTA on the basis of its designation as a

National Park means that any physical development The defence estate...is ultimately held in trust for the had to be justified on the basis of an exceptional nation. MoD recognizes the duty to conserve the need for that development. Again, the exceptional environment of Ranges and Training Areas in accord- ance with Government policy. Environment includes and unassailable need for soldiers to train in the use not just the natural environment (which in any case is of their heavy artillery systems provided part of this only at best semi-natural due to the influence of man) justification. But an additional emphasis on National but also the man-made features of historic importance. Park designation as a consequence of the military Conservation should not be regarded as preservation presence supported this case [see also Woodward i.e. protection from damage, but comprises pro-active management to enhance the value of the environment. (1997)]. Military activity was thus constructed as (MoD, 1993, p. 84) inherently conservationist, through its associations

with statutory designations conferring high levels of This quotation needs unpacking. First we have the protection to these areas, and with the attendant definition of the defence estate as a national asset valorization of landscape that this brings: for national interests. I shall return below to the significance of the priority accorded to national Although military training may not conform to the security in arguments about Otterburn. Second, the general perception of quiet enjoyment, it is often

forgotten that it is that very military presence which has 'naturalness' of the natural environment is ques- helped to preserve and secure the exceptionally tioned, the implication being that activities which beautiful and varied landscape which attracts so many impinge on this environment are less problematic visitors to the National Parks. (Nicholas Soames, that they might appear at first sight because they Armed Forces Minister, Hansard, 1995) represent just another form of human activity leaving its imprint on the landscape. The damage One national i n t e r e s t - t h e preservation of valued and detritus of military training thus stand in a long landscapes - was combined with another, national tradition of human impact on the land. Third, and defence needs. National Parks were portrayed as most significantly, conservation is defined by what it playing a distinct role: is not. It is not protection from damage, which leads to the conclusion that even destructive activities Use of National Parks remains vital to our defence. (such as bombing) are legitimate activities. Rather, They provide essential facilities that cannot be

dispensed with and could not easily be replicated else- conservation is a management strategy to enhance a where. (Jeremy Hanley, Defence Secretary, Hansard, particular value of the environment. The value of an 1993) environment rests in its utility as a training area, whatever the destructiveness of that training activity. The existence of military training at Ottcrburn prior Defining it in this way enables development to take to national park designation supported this place in the name of conservation. Indeed, so closely argument: do the needs of military training accord with the requirement to conserve natural habitats that, It is an often forgotten fact that the Army has had a according to the MoD, no specific conservation presence in the National Parks since long before they budget exists. Instead conservation activities are were designated as such. At Otterburn, for example, the

military training area was established in 1911, some 45 carried out under an estate budget. Calls on this years before it was designated as a National Park. [...] finance are justified through appeal either to mill- There has been a military presence on Dartmoor since tary training or to statutory obligation (MoD/P/7, the early 19th century, again many years before the 1997, p. 14). In short, a specific understanding of National Park was created. (Nicholas Soames, Armed what conservation is underpins the portrayal of Forces Minister, Hansard, 1995).

conservatory activity on the defence estate which supports arguments both for military training using In his opening statement to the Public Inquiry, heavy artillery and the development of infrastructure Counsel for the MoD expanded on this history: on the OTA.

...military training had been taking place at Otterburn Training Area for over 40 years before it became part

Arguments to justify the developments at the OTA of a National Park; it will also be widely known that also drew upon particular interpretations of environ- military training activities in National Parks were recog- mental protection. One way in which this happened nized as in being and likely to continue when the legis-

Gunning for rural England 27

lation creating National Parks was first introduced. First, size was held to be important.* The (I/MoD/I, 1997, p. 4) pre-eminent quality of this landscape is held to be

its sheer scale. The MoD developed this argument This conflation of the history of military training and by quoting from Brian Redhead's observations: the history of national parks is a discursive strategy. It draws on the notion of "crater-as-habitat", The Northumberland National Park is a landscape of discussed above, and couples it with discourses wide open spaces, where access is unrivalled and soli- which represent the creation of national parks as a tude easily found. Seventy per cent of it is open moor- national good, ensuring environmental protection land. And yet it also contains the finest Roman

monument in the land, the largest military training area for the benefit of the nation. The fact of the military in the north of England, and the biggest man-made lake presence in areas which also received designation as and man-made forest in Europe. national parks takes on a new meaning through the positioning of military activity next to environmental That is its majesty. It is rich in history and yet it feels as protection within this conceptual framework. The if its geography has not been tampered with. Every inch effects of contemporary military land use strategies, of it has a story to tell, stories of Roman occupation, of mentioned above as involving the pursuit of exten- Christian conversion, of border conflict. And every inch sive agricultural practices, are drawn into this frame- of it has been exploited, directly or indirectly.

work, sealing the argument: But it does not feel like that. It feels as it must have always felt with the clouds on the horizon and the wide

What is perhaps not so widely known, though now sky. It is too large a landscape to be diminished by the becoming more recognized, is the skill which the MoD activities upon it. [Redhead (1995) quoted in MoD/R/ has built up in managing its training area in such a way 3/1 (1997), p. 7] which actually conserves and enhances landscape, ecological, and cultural heritage interests. OTA is a very good example of this. It is acknowledged, almost According to the MoD's landscape consultant, universally, that woodland and farming management practices on the training area have produced substantial The quotation underlines the dominance and scale of benefits for the environment which are not present in the upland landscape which is such an important factor large areas of the remainder of the Northumberland in assessing the effects of change. (MoD/R/3/I, 1997, National Park. (I/MoD/I, 1997, pp. 4-5) p. 7)

A consequence of this discourse is the construction This appeal to the size of the landscape was not a of mili~tary activity as more environmentally protec- strategy unique to the MoD. The Northumberland tive than national park designation. Given the National Park Authority and the Council for general acceptance in both planning legislation and National Parks in opposing the MoD's plans, public minds, that national park designation offers emphasized the sheer scale of the training area, and the highest level of statutory protection for the land- a glance at the map in Fig. 1 will confirm that the scapes that we value, this is quite a claim. Its effect, OTA does indeed cover a large area. My argument I would argue, is again to add legitimacy to MoD here is that for the MoD the sheer size of the area arguments that training with heavy artillery would in was crucial. It allowed an argument to be developed no way impinge upon the environmental qualities of which denied that the developments would have an the Northumberland National Park. adverse impact on the landscape because of their

relative sizes. As one MoD representative quipped to me, "What's a small gun spur when you've got

Portrait of a landscape 22000 hectares of moorland to play with?". Accord- ingly, arguments were proposed which stressed the relative sizes of the landscape and developments.

Firing live ammunition from heavy artillery systems For example, two of the proposed gun spurs ( lc and in a national park, and building the infrastructure 43) would not be intrusive within the park to enable this to happen, required

the portrayal of that space, that landscape, in a .by virtue of their relatively small scale in the land- particular way. In this section I argue that just as scape [...] Other factors which reduce their impact on discourses of conservation and environmental views are the attractions of other more distant views protection were drawn upon to argue the case for away from the line of the road and the distractions of the proposed developments at OTA, portrayals of prominent features such as Henry's Wood which forms

landscape were constructed to support the argument that the impact of the developments would not be *This is not just a cheap dig at the masculinities evident

within the organizational culture of the MoD and armed detrimental to the area. Again, I shall argue that an forces. See Woodward (1998c) for a wider exploration of interpretation of these portrayals as discursive the relationships between soldiers, masculinity and the constructions illuminates their purpose, countryside.

28 Rachel Woodward

a conspicuous feature on the skyline in Gun Deploy- change than the open moorland to the north. (MoD/P/ ment Area Alpha. (MoD/R/3/1, 1997, pp. 14-15) 3, 1997, p. 29)

Furthermore, the impact of military training activi- For example, ties themselves would be limited, again because of

The southern area is characterized by undulating topog- the scale of the landscape. For example, the MoD raphy where the plateau is incised by the river valleys, argued that the flash and rocket trace produced by and a mixed land cover of moorland, woodland and one of the artillery systems would have a minimal farmland. It is also the main area of built development impact to walkers on a specific footpath across the within OTA and incorporates the two military camps ranges (Darden Lough path) because of the and the airfield. This type of landscape has the ability to

absorb the scale of development which is proposed and "breadth of the panorama from this elevation. The plans for additional planting would increase this ability distraction would be short-lived and at a great by reducing views of the infrastructure and enhancing distance" (MoD/R/3/1, 1997, p. 19). Impacts such as the character of the landscape. (MoD/P/3, 1997, p. 76) this would be "rather diffuse" (MoD, 1997b). The landscape would absorb and accommodate the A criticism of the MoD's development plans on the developments: grounds of the undesirability of cumulative impact

in the southern part of the OTA was answered by For many years the military activities at OTA have had saying: very little adverse effect on the landscape and many benefits for its conservation and management. With the This reflects the quite deliberate policy to locate the exception of the Tactical OPs [Observation Posts] and proposals around existing infrastructure in the southern the CMF [Central Maintenance Facility] the proposed more developed quadrant of OTA. This is an area changes are not blatantly of a military character and where there is less feeling of the 'wild country' and I represent a series of minor events scattered over a large identify it as capable of accommodating the proposed area. It would be wrong in my view to suggest that this scale of developments. (MoD/R/3/1, 1997, p. 26) scale of development would have a significant impact on the overall character of the National Park or that this This argument is based on serendipity, of course: landscape is unable to accommodate these changes, the most remote upland areas are in and beyond the (MoD/R/3/1, 1997, p. 7) impact area, and are not the places that one could

The landscape of the training area, as well as being easily build hardstandings and fire AS90 and MLRS. The point remains, however, that fragmenting the large is scale, was portrayed as fragmented,

comprising a jigsaw of different types of areas which landscape in this ways allows for the justification of combine to make a unified whole. Again, this is not development on these terms.

a strategy unique to the MoD, but for the MoD the The portrayal of landscape as huge in scale and fragmentation of landscape served specific ends. For fragmented sits within a broader framework for a start, it enabled the portrayal of the landscape in understanding landscape which stresses its utility terms which emphasized its variety "ranging from above its environmental or aesthetic value. This wild open moorland in the northern uplands to emphasis on utility is discernible in arguments on wooded and enclosed farmland in south plateau the impact of the developments on the human slopes and valleys" (MoD/P/3, 1997, p. 21). Thus, a visitor to the OTA. Within this argument, the criticism by the National Park Authority, that the

impact on the human viewer, preferably motor- proposals "would seriously damage the integrity of borne, is prioritized over aesthetic or environmental the National Park as a wild landscape of relatively

concerns. For example, the visual impact of two gun unspoilt natural beauty and a rare and fragile

spurs ( lc and 43), the MoD argued, would be resource" (NCC/P/2, 1997, p. 80), was countered

reduced because of the circumstances of the viewer: with the assertion that "This generalization over- looks the great variety of landscapes within the Park In views from the range roads the mobility of the viewer and their different qualities and abilities to absorb would also tend to reduce the impact of individual development" (MoD/R/3/1, 1997, p. 6). features and the lower eyeline sitting in a car would

have the effect of reducing the vertical component of the infrastructure. (MoD/R/3/1, 1997, p. 14)

The diversity of this landscape, in both aesthetic and

functional terms, is not in question here. The point In another example the impact of some engineering is to illustrate how this diversity was used to justify works (part of the road-widening element of the development at the OTA. This was achieved by scheme) was assessed in purely visual terms: arguing that:

Gabions [large wire mesh cubes filled with stones] The differing landscape areas within OTA have varying would only be used where embankments would take up qualities to absorb development and it is generally too much land. They would be located at the base of acknowledged that the more enclosed landscapes in the the slope below the level of the road and would be south and west of OTA are more able to accommodate barely visible from the road. (MoD/R/3/1, 1997, p. 25)

Gunning for rural England 29

In one of the more contentious elements of the The last sentence underscores the impression that development plan, where a system of tracks and the impact of the developments on the landscape spurs known as tactical observation posts (OPs) was recognized only when there would be human were proposed for an area of open moorland, size, observation of it. The MoD expressed concern about fragmentation and utility operated together to the visual intrusion of the development, but only provide justification for this particular part of the insofar as it would be perceived by visitors to the scheme. Tactical OPs are hardstandings for training national park. It is not that the MoD were arguing in tactical observation of the enemy. The develop- that the construction of the Tactical OP would have ment plans proposed the construction of 18 posi- no impact at all. The Environmental Statement on tions which would be used by single Warrior OPVs the proposed developments, for example, recognized part of the AS90 regiment. The tactical OPs would that the construction of the Tactical OPs on open be spaced out along the length of a ridge facing moorland might have pronounced effects on land- north into the one of the OTA's impact areas scape and ecology: (Redesdale South). Tactical training in target acqui- sition would take place here: The Tactical OPs would be developed in a high, moor-

land area with few existing tracks and buildings. Construction would lead to fragmentation of the moor-

The infrastructure [...] would enable OP crews to prac- land and elevated levels of disturbance. Increased rise "jockeying'-running up to and, if need be, over the disturbance is likely to result in a local reduction in the crest line to acquire the target in the impact area, numbers of birds breeding and feeding in this area. before withdrawing out of sight. The OP crew would Increased levels of erosion are likely to occur until soils then find another suitable position and reacquire the are stabilized. (MoD, 1995b, p. 148) target to confirm or correct fire. (MoD, 1995b, p. 23)

However, the impacts that were presented as being Each position would be on a short spur track most acute were those on human visitors: running up to the crest line, and these would be linked to an access track running along the reverse Special consideration has been given to the design of slope of the ridge stretching between two prominent the tracks and spurs to minimize the extent of develop-

ment and help to blend them into the landscape. view points in the centre of the training area (Watty (MoD/P/3, 1997, p. 61) Bell's Cairn at the eastern edge and the Crow Stone

to the west). Vehicles would be out of sight of the Furthermore, the ridge affected was portrayed not impact area when on the track. The original plans as an isolated, remote part of the training area, for the Tactical OPs required the widening of some where development might intrude on the wilderness 6.9 km of existing tarmac road to a width of 5 m and experience, but as a ridge already surrounded by the construction of some 3.2 km of new stone track, evidence of military activity. Military infrastructure again 5 m in width, across open moorland, such as barriers, red warning flags and existing Following consultation, the plans were modified so tarmac roads are used as examples. For the MoD, that some parts of the existing road would remain at although this was open moorland with the attraction their existing width and other parts would be of distant views the location was by no means widened to a reduced specification, remote because of the proximity of the airfield and a

road 3 km and 1 km distant respectively: The MoD recognized the tactical OPs as "one of the more significant elements of the MoD's Proposals" Other values such as scenic quality and unspoilt (MoD, 1995b, p. 109). After all, it involved the character are also lower [...] because of the greater

evidence of military activity and the orientation of the construction of new tracks in open moorland in a slopes towards the southern (Redesdale) plateau which National Park. The impact on the landscape was lacks the visual contrasts and drama of the northern played down on the grounds that: uplands. (MoD/P/3, 1997, p. 62)

[the] effect of topography [...] would be to fragment Overall: views, so that only some of the road and/or track would be visible from any one point. There are few higher The construction of the Tactical OPs in open moorland points close by and, because of its location along a ridge would have an adverse effect on the character of the line on the top of a convex hill, the central part of the landscape in this area. However substantial efforts have infrastructure would not be very visible from lower been made to moderate the magnitude of this effect elevations. The main (public) view of Tactical OPs through the selection of the track alignment and the would be from the western end of the Cocklaw-Holy- general use of dark coloured stone surfaces. The effect stone Road. However, the road/tracks would be rela- on views would be small because of the undulating tively inconspicuous at this distance and military nature of the ground, the height of the ridge (reducing vehicles would appear as small (and camouflaged) overview) and the restrictions on public access. features in the landscape. The Burma Road [a public access road] is closed to the public when there is live The scenic quality of the area is diminished somewhat firing on the Otterburn Ranges. (MoD, 1995b, p.109) by the existing military infrastructure and the proposals

30 Rachel Woodward

would add to this effect by increasing the extent of built space which this paper has discussed. This sugges- development along the ridgeline. However, this effect tion follows in the spirit of current arguments within would be mitigated by the relatively narrow width of the stone tracks and their close relationship to the land- rural studies on the social construction of rurality, form. (MoD/P/3, 1997, p. 64) particularly those arguments proposing an analysis

oriented towards the examination of the power rela-

The MoD's portrayal of landscape emphasized its tions underpinning the social construction of rural size, its composition and its utility to one set of space, rather than just descriptions of their shape.

users (humans) rather than another. Again, this is a discursive construction in that it naturalizes a The work of Martin Shaw on the ways in which war, particular interpretation of this landscape, military institutions and military culture interact

with social relations, is helpful here (Shaw, 1991).

As I state above, justification of the need to use the As part of a wider analysis of what he terms 'post- OTA for heavy artillery training was provided with military society' Shaw describes militarism in reference to the needs of the army for training. I contemporary British culture in terms of a 'national now go on to examine how this too can be examined military myth', the central tenets of which are an as a discursive construction, ideology and imagery of totalitarian military threat,

the belief that 'appeasing' such threats is wrong, and the notion that military strength is the foundation of security. Shaw argues that these concepts constitute The politics of the promotion of military land use a sustaining myth of all British defence and military activity, and are a central feature of the political

At the centre of the portrayal of the OTA sits a culture. These ideas contribute to an ideology about silence. This silence is about war and the need for military matters which has proved resilient to soldiers to be trained in the use of very formidable removal and adaptable to change (p. 119). artillery systems in order to wage war. This was rarely spoken about at the OPI. In its opening state- Reference to this 'national military myth' seems to ment the MoD removed any possibility of debate on provide the only instance at which this silence over this issue: the real military purpose of the OTA is breached.

For example, the notion of military strength as the We do not expect anyone to deny this [need] nor do we foundation of national security was presented to the expect it to become an issue, because failure to be OPI to refute the idea put forward by the local plan- properly trained in the use of these weapons means greater difficulties in succeeding in military conflict ning authority that the need for the development objectives and more casualties. (I/MoD/1, 1997, p. 2) had not been demonstrated:

The goal of British security policy is to maintain the This duty of the army to prepare for war was named freedom and territorial integrity of the United Kingdom as a national interest, and discussion of the rights and its dependent territories, and the ability to pursue and wrongs of this is removed from the debate: its legitimate interests at home and abroad. Key to this

is deterrence which depends not only upon the percep- ...the development proposals are of the highest tion of the nation's political will to respond to a threat, national importance and self-evidently in the public but on other factors, including forces which are interest. I say that this is beyond argument.(I/MoD/1, perceived to be effective and capable of preventing a 1997, p. 2) potential adversary from achieving his strategic object-

ives. To be perceived to have a highly trained, well motivated and operationally ready army is an important

'Beyond argument' lie discussions on the rationale part of that deterrence. (I/MoD/107, 1997) for the use of these artillery systems in the first place. Yet this silence is highly pertinent for a This 'national military myth' is a discourse which consideration of the politics of military land use. influenced the way in which meanings were ascribed Silences within a discursive construction are instruc- to the OTA and the specific construction of space tive; they point to those things that cannot or must described in this paper shaped. For example, the not be spoken about within a particular discourse, secondary importance attached to farming and

conservation relative to defence, the portrayal of the I am not expressing any great surprise that the MoD landscape as able to absorb military activity and the should avoid talk of war in debates over Otterburn. mapping of this space to the exclusion of needs What I want to explore, however, is a suggestion for other than defence could all be interpreted as strat- this silence that goes beyond the rather simplistic egies to bolster the claim that demonstrable "well they would say that, wouldn't they?", and that (tangible?) military strength is the basis of national makes some sort of connection between this discur- security. Although, as we have seen, the OTA was sive silence and the social construction of place and portrayed in the run-up to the Inquiry as a farming

Gunning for rural England 31

and conservation as well as training area, ultimately discourses of national identity and rurality tell us training won out through the reiteration of an argu- that it must be so. If the army's role is defence of ment which constructed the OTA as a space the realm, then surely Otterburn is safe in their required for national defence purposes. Even claims hands'? for the national importance of National Parks are subsumed in this way, through a political strategy Acknowledgements - - A first draft of this paper was that absorbed conservationist discourses within a presented at the Rural Economy and Socie~ Stud), Group rubric of national interests, with defence interests Conference, Worcester, 2-4 September 1997. I would like

to thank the University of Newcastle upon Tyne Research taking precedence. National defence needs are Committee Small Grants Panel for the funding that portrayed as being of primary and unassailable enabled me to sit through most of the Otterburn Public importance. The MoD's planning consultant made Inquiry. I would like to thank Ann Rooke of the Geog- this explicit during cross-examination by a member raphy Department, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, of the Northumberland Natural History Society: for drawing the map at Fig. 1, I would also like to thank

Ian Hutchison, Lorraine Luke and Lesley Pickavance of national military needs, the consultant stated, were the Otterburn Public Inquiry Secretariat for their ve~ "absolute"; national park values were just "very considerable efforts in providing me with all the relevant important" (OPI, 1 lth June 1998). public inquiry documentation.

This discourse of national military capacity is powerful. It shifts Otterburn from being a corner of References remote windswept Northumberland and makes it a

crucial element in the UK's national security Anderson, K. and Gale, F. (1992) Introduction. In strategy, without which military strength is lost. It is Inventing Places." Studies in Cultural Geography, eds. K. powerful also because it reinforces the discursive Anderson and F. Gale. Longman Cheshire, Australia. construction of military training as environmentally Barnes, T. and Duncan, J. (Eds.) (1992) Writing Worlds': benign in effect with reference to the national Discourse, Text and Metaphor in the Representation (>f

Landscape. Routledge, London. defence role played by the armed forces. As the Bracewell, M. (1997) England is Mine." Pop Life in Albion quotation above states, the goal of British security from Wilde to Goldie. Harper Collins. London. policy includes the maintenance of the freedom and BICC: Bonn International Center for Conversion (1996) territorial integrity of the UK - the defence of the Conversion Survey 1996: Global Disarmament, Demilitar- realm. The realm to be defended is at least in part ization and Demobilization. OUP, Oxford.

Cawley, R. M. and Lawrence, R. M. (1995) National symbolically constructed and imagined as a rural secuirty poliyc and federal lands policy, or, the greening place; a number of discourses of rurality are central of the Pentagon. In Post-Cold War Policy: The Social and and entirely complicit in the construction of Domestic Context, ed. W. Crotty, pp. 274-292. Nelson- discourses about England and englishness (Howkins, Hall, Chicago. 1986; Lowenthal 1991; Miller, 1995).* Particularly Chomsky, N. (1994) World Orders, Old and New. Pluto

Press, London. important in this regard are the familiar ideas of the Clark, G., Darrall, J., Grove-White, R., Macnaughten, P. pastoral myth, rural idyll or Arcady so critical in and Urry, J. (1994)Leisure Landscapes: Leisure, Culture shaping cultural definitions of England (Bracewell, and the English Countryside: Challenges and Conflicts. 1997). The armed forces have been central historic- CPRE, London. ally in the construction of this discourse of national Cosgrove, D. and Daniels, S. (1988) The lconography of

Landscape. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. identity in which the rurality of England is taken to Coulson, M. (1995) The geography of defence: developing describe the nation's essential character, for themes of study. GeoJournal 36, 371-382. example through the imagining of homeland in the Coulson, M. and Baldwin, H. (Eds.) (1995) Proceedings of imperial age (see Lowe et al., 1995), or through the the International Symposium on the Environment and need to idealize a particular image of home as the Defence. Department of Geography, University of

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