Exhibition site plans to showcase area's RAF war links

The proposed exhibition centre could be built at the Lancaster Way Business Park in Ely with artefacts from RAF Witchford and RAF Mepal

Plans to open a new RAF exhibition centre to showcase an area’s World War Two history have been submitted to a council.

The proposed site could be built at the Lancaster Way Business Park in Ely, Cambridgeshire, with artefacts from RAF Witchford and RAF Mepal.

Grovemere Property Limited has submitted a planning application to East Cambridgeshire District Council.

If approved, the applicant hoped the exhibition could showcase a "rich collection" of "high quality location specific artefacts... amassed over many years".

The new exhibition building would be located near the main entrance to the business park, to make it more visible for potential visitors.

Grovemere said the design of the new building would "add to the narrative of the exhibition".

The building is expected to be unattended, with people allowed to come and look around within set periods during the day, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

The planning application also proposed for a single-storey extension to be built on to an existing café.

The application said: "During World War Two approximately 4 million operational flights were made over Cambridgeshire by bombers in 1944 alone, many of which were conducted in Lancaster bombers emanating from both RAF Witchford and nearby RAF Mepal.

"These proposals seek to provide a new purpose built exhibition space which aims to maximise the impact of the artefacts and audio visual aids to better engage with a wider audience and help reveal the personal stories and memories of life at RAF Witchford and Mepal."