Brawdy’s Cawdor Baracks will close in eight years, defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon, announced today (Monday).

The barracks, home to the 14th Signal Regiment, was earmarked for closure last year but was officially shelved last September, amid concern about the spiralling costs of moving the regiment’s 600 soldiers to St Athans.

Today the defence secretary said that Brawdy was one of 50 sites that the Ministry of Defence would dispose of between now and 2040. This is in addition to 35 sites announced at the beginning of this year.

Brawdy's Cawdor Barracks  will close in 2024.

Pembrokeshire MP Stephen Crabb told the house that he was saddened to hear the news.

“I am disappointed the earlier decision to shut the 14th Signal Regiment, that I was told a year ago had been reversed, is back on the cards,” he said in parliament this afternoon.

“This has been unsettling for the soldiers who are a well-respected part of the Pembrokeshire community.”

He asked for a time frame for the closure of Brawdy and assurance that he base would be maintained to a high standard until its closure.

The defence secretary said that where the Signals would relocate was yet to be decided.

“We will shortly confirm where the 14th Signals will be reprovided for,” he said.

He added that billions had been spent maintaining a defence estate that doesn’t meet the needs of the Armed Forces.

“This plan delivers an estate fit for our forces and their families,” he said. “By putting money where it is needed we will provide better facilities to train our Armed Forces and deliver more stability for military families.”

He maintained that as well as saving the taxpayer money – around £140 million by the end of the decade - the changes will reduce the number of personnel being regularly moved between different bases, providing greater long-term stability and certainty for Armed Forces personnel and their families.

The plan will see sites and bases moved to locations that offer better opportunities for military families - increasing employment prospects for partners and spouses, helping them to settle into communities, buy their own homes and have their children benefit from more stable schooling.

Brawdy is among more than 32,500 acres of excess defence land being released, including ten airfields and five golf courses.

As well as generating income to create a better defence estate the plans will provide enough land for 55,000 homes, helping the Government contribute to its target of 160,000 new homes by 2020. There will also be significant economic benefits, providing employment opportunities for construction and the service industries across the UK.