SEALAND
Updated 11:44, 8/11/25
NB: There are no spaces left for the meeting on the 10th. We will update here.
[10:17 6/11/25] After negotiations with the Cheshire Police Firearms Licensing Department, (who have been very helpful) the MoD, Landmarc & the Home Office, we have secured our full HO approval until November 2026. No need for anyone to have their FACs changed!
MEMBERS – If you have had a chance to read your e-mails you will have seen that at 10:17 on 30th October we received the following from Landmarc:
“Good morning All,
It is with much regret I have received this message from the Mod:-
‘Direction. As From 27 Oct 25 – no further bookings accepted for Sealand Range. The BAMS statement has been issued. We will continue with all bookings until Christmas 2025. Civilian Clubs bookings will be cancelled from 31 Dec 2025..
The dates you have booked up to Christmas will be honoured (subject to the usual Mod priorities).”
This is a blow: after 48 years we have been given less than 8 weeks’ notice, provided second-hand in a blunt, (not to say rude) manner. Those eight weeks include the Christmas holiday, giving us seven weeks in effect.
We are working on finding the reasons for the closure, but it appears to have been a decision made by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) who have over-arching responsibility for Ministry of Defence ranges in the UK. As far as we can find out, it is because the use of Sealand has declined to less than 10% of it’s potential hours, and that the MoD are using it far less because there is no overnight accomodation: most military units have to travel some distance to use Sealand.
We will of course be fighting this for you, and we may ask you to provide us with support in the fight, but should we fail we need to have options as well.
We need your support now.
Several members have already been very helpful with support and suggestions, all of which will have to be considered carefully, and if YOU have any ideas or suggestions we would be very grateful for your support now. Please give this some thought and contact us by the usual e-mail with your suggestions/thoughts/ideas etc.
We have contacted the BASC, NRA, and Landmarc, and sent e-mails to the Home Office and police firearms licensing department. We’ve asked the MoD for an extension to the proposed closure to allow us to change our Home Office “primary ” range. We are looking at a number of fullbore ranges in the area, but we WILL need your help with these.
We will be asking for a team to deal with Altcar as well as Wern Ddu while we deal with all the other intricacies/ranges/legal matters.
Absolute tragedy as we all know, I know we all want them fight the closure of the range but we have very limited information as to the reasoning behind the decision, which make it difficult to address. However we have to look for an alternative venue and many thanks to those who have made suggestions. The obvious venue is Altcar which is very busy and expensive, I should also point out that the main shooting day for civilians is Sunday. I’m sure Mary and Mike have already spoken to Warrington and other clubs that use Sealand for their input. Short of winning the lottery and buy the range (if it’s for sale ? ) I don’t have the answer yet !
Thanks Simon,
Yes you’re right, we’ve been looking at MANY different helpful alternatives offered by members. The difficulty is the VERY short timescale: we don’t even know who to ask for an extension, so I’ve asked through Landmarc.
The NRA and BASC have been contacted, and when we know more we’ll work out our plan to fight the closure, but we must also have a plan B.
Although I can not be at the meeting on the 10th, I would just like to offer my support should anything be required. Although I have not shot at Sealand for a while, I had hoped one day to return. Anything I can do to help the club, then please let me know. Hard to believe they have not known this decision for a while, and giving 8 weeks notice is ridiculous. Shows a lack of common decency on their part.
Rob, That’s very kind of you! Yes, the rudeness shows – as you say – a lack of common decency. It was interesting that the MoD sent the e-mail to Landmarc to tell us about the closure, and Landmarc apologised for it – but it was not of their making.
AS a club, why not look at what you can do to take over ownership of the range from the MOD, I am pretty sure the MOD wouldn divest their interests at the Sealand Complex for a nominal fee of 1 pound plus transfer costs.
Thank you for the thought. Unfortunately there is a “procurement” system within the MoD (read – “long-winded, bureaucratic”) and in any case there are others with very deep pockets who have an interest in acquiring the area.
Before we get too down on the MoD they do have 3 armed forces, nuclear submarines (new and old), The continuous at sea deterrent (CASD) (nuclear missile maintenance and manufacture), armoured vehicles, frigates, dock yards, armed forces estates and accommodation, wrestling with parliament, NATO exercises, NATO cooperation and interoperability, sustaining and maintaining a defence industry and attendant skills, countries being invaded, intelligence, threst assessment etc etc etc…
I think they have been accommodating in allowing civilians of various skill levels shoot on thier ranges!
Hi Gravel Belly, Yes we well understand this – we have several members who are serving officers. [In fact we simply take up spare capacity on ranges and pay well for the priviledge, providing some small extra funding which they wouldn’t otherwise have.] It is the manner in which we were dealt with that caused both us and the police problems, which we’re still trying to overcome. Politeness costs nothing.