RAF Menwith Hill: Expansion plans for Harrogate spy base

There are plans to build new buildings and roads at a spy base near Harrogate.

RAF Menwith Hill gathers electronic intelligence and is operated by US and UK staff.

A request for EIA Screening Opinion, which comes before a full planning application, has been submitted to North Yorkshire Council to put new structures up at the northern side of the base.

The work would include a new administration block and access roads.

There would also be a refuelling bay, footpaths, a small car park and a secure perimeter fence surrounding the facilities.

The 500-acre site was established in 1954 to act as a "communication intercept and intelligence support service" for both the UK and America.

It features 37 giant radomes, or "golf balls", which protect antennas from the weather.

Hundreds of personnel from a number of international intelligence bodies, including staff from the UK's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and America's National Security Agency (NSA), operate from the base.

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