Report - MOD - Copenacre - Joint Support Unit - Corsham

[Mendiptickler]

Hi, this site has now been sold to a private company for development so would I be right in thinking that if caught having a look around & taking some photos the most they could do would be to chuck me off for trespassing?

I read somewhere that if it you were trespassing on an mod site they could do you for criminal trespass which carries a greater risk than just trespass! If anyone has any info I would appreciate some help as I am new to all this :-) Cheers.

 

[Bertie Bollockbrains]

^^^^ Correct

Hi, this site has now been sold to a private company for development so would I be right in thinking that if caught having a look around & taking some photos the most they could do would be to chuck me off for trespassing?

Providing you just enter through any already present holes in the fence and you do not cause damage entering and not arsey with security if caught. Obviously don't damage anything whilst in there and dont be carrying tools, tins of spraypaint etc etc.

Latest plans for Copernacre here:
In July 2013 Copenacre Developments LLP were successful in gaining planning permission for a mixed use scheme of housing, a hotel, elderly care home and some small business units on the site, subject to a number of conditions.


In June 2014, Copenacre Developments LLP formally applied to vary some of the legal terms attached to the permission, such as requiring the building of the residential properties and the hotel and care home together; meaning one cannot be delivered without the other. This has led to a pause in development whilst these matters are resolved. No decision has been issued by Wiltshire County Council to date.

 

[Mendiptickler]

^^^^ Correct

Thanks Bertie :-) so it's pretty safe as long as I don't force entry or smash anything up its just normal trespass? There are holes in the fence already so looks pretty straight forward..

Have a good weekend.

 

[Ordnance]

The Police during 'Training' often do more damage than trespasses do!

MoD Property depends on how active it is, and disused sites also get used for Police, Firearms, Drugs, Dogs & UKSF Training at times, but that alone does not make it an 'Active' site unless signs tell you otherwise.

 

[Seffy]

Decent, good job mate

 

[Oxygen Thief]

The Police during 'Training' often do more damage than trespasses do!

MoD Property depends on how active it is, and disused sites also get used for Police, Firearms, Drugs, Dogs & UKSF Training at times, but that alone does not make it an 'Active' site unless signs tell you otherwise.

Doesn't matter how 'busy' it is, it's whether it's one of these designated sites...

Protected sites

Royal, governmental and parliamentary sites:

85 Albert Embankment, London
Buckingham Palace, London
Ministry of Defence Main Building, Whitehall, London
Old War Office Building, Whitehall, London
St James’s Palace, Cleveland Row, London
Thames House, 11 and 12 Millbank, London
The Chequers estate, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
10 - 12 Downing Street site as well as 70 Whitehall
Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ), Harp Hill, Cheltenham
GCHQ, Hubble Road, Cheltenham
GCHQ, Racecourse Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire
GCHQ, Woodford, Bude, Cornwall
Highgrove House, Doughton, Gloucestershire
Palace of Westminster and Portcullis House site, London
Sandringham House, Norfolk
Windsor Castle, Berkshire

Protected Ministry of Defence sites

HMNB Clyde
RNAD Coulport
Northwood Headquarters
RAF Flyingdales
RAF Menwith Hill
RAF Croughton
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Feltwell
RAF Mildenhall
RAF Brize Norton
SMC Marchwood
RAF Fairford
RAF Welford


Licence nuclear sites

Civil sites:

• Sellafield, Cumbria
• Dounreay, Scotland
• Capenhurst, near Chester
• Drigg, near Sellafield
• Harwell, near Oxford
• Springfields, near Preston
• Windscale, within Sellafield
• Winfrith, near Wool in Dorset
• GE Healthcare sites in Amersham and Cardiff
• London University’s Imperial College of Science and Technology site in Ascot, Berkshire
• Berkeley, near Bristol
• Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre at Birniehill, East Kilbride

Nuclear power station sites:

• Chapelcross, Dumfriesshire
• Dungeness A and B, Kent
• Hartlepool, near Middlesborough
• Heysham 1 and 2, Lancashire
• Hinkley Point A and B, Somerset
• Hunterston A and B, Ayrshire
• Oldbury, near Bristol
• Sizewell A and B, Suffolk
• Torness, East Lothian
• Bradwell, Essex
• Calder Hall, within Sellafield
• Wylfa, on Anglesey
• Trawsfynydd, Dolgellau, Wales

Defence sites:

• Atomic Weapons Establishments sites near Aldermaston and Burghfield, Berkshire
• Devonshire Dock Complex, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
• Devonport Royal Dockyard, Plymouth
• Rolls Royce Neptune site and Nuclear Fuel Production Plant in Derby
• Rosyth Dockyard, Fife

In summary, trespass on any of those and you'll get a proper shafting.

 

[Lenston]

Watch out for a couple of motion sensors dotted around if your going

 

[Miss Mayhem]

Very nice, cheers for sharing

 

[Ordnance]

Doesn't matter how 'busy' it is, it's whether it's one of these designated sites...
<<
In summary, trespass on any of those and you'll get a proper shafting.

I wrote 'Active' not 'Busy' meaning still in use or manned, and agree that sites listed above under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCAP) will lead to grief, but active MoD sites that have guards and/or MGS or MoD Police patrols can make life difficult as well, add to this local military by-laws, explosives sites or airfield regulations can be covered in other ways.

Agreed that they are not all covered by 'Criminal Trespass' legislation, but being caught in a restricted military area will lead to at the very least an interview without coffee! and a more determined effort to prove Breaking & Entering or Criminal Damage.

 

[Mendiptickler]

Thanks for all of your responses, this is all really useful info for a newbie! So just to be clear.. The fact that this site was sold by the mod to a private company means that I can only be done for normal trespassing & not criminal trespass?

I will look out for the motion sensors although to be honest I am not very observant especially when armed with a DSLR, a rangefinder & a Polaroid! My problem is I like too many forms of Photography!

 

[Oxygen Thief]

@Ordnance, yes agree with you. However, the military do seem to be lenient compared to the police. The downside is they're routinely armed.

 

[Bertie Bollockbrains]

Thanks for all of your responses, this is all really useful info for a newbie! So just to be clear.. The fact that this site was sold by the mod to a private company means that I can only be done for normal trespassing & not criminal trespass?

Yes, and as you correctly said the fence is holed already. The office building is completely trashed so unlikely they could do criminal damage against you. The motion detectors are around the old quarry entrances (which are now sealed). Just be aware that the site is occasionally used for police training. Just have a quick walk along the road looking for parked police vans inside before entering.

 

[REEF]

When I drove past it on Friday the signs outside said that the site had been sold.
Any idea who to?

 

[Bertie Bollockbrains]

Latest plans for Copernacre here:
In July 2013 Copenacre Developments LLP were successful in gaining planning permission for a mixed use scheme of housing, a hotel, elderly care home and some small business units on the site, subject to a number of conditions.


In June 2014, Copenacre Developments LLP formally applied to vary some of the legal terms attached to the permission, such as requiring the building of the residential properties and the hotel and care home together; meaning one cannot be delivered without the other. This has led to a pause in development whilst these matters are resolved. No decision has been issued by Wiltshire County Council to date.

 

[Lenston]

I dont need to comment on this thread, Bertie is doing it all for me lol