Rayner Grants Planning Permission for Piddington Asylum Centre
Angela Rayner, the communities secretary, has signed off planning permission in full for an asylum centre on a former Ministry of Defence site in Oxfordshire, close to Piddington. Ministers at the Home Office stress that their own go-ahead has not been given.
What was approved
The decision covers the refurbishment and redevelopment of a former barracks, known as MoD Bicester, near the town of Bicester. Housing and communities officials describe the permission as being for temporary, phased use of the former storage site. Because the ruling may face a legal challenge, they declined to comment further.
The centre would hold 1,256 detained asylum seekers. A Home Office spokesperson said planning permission lets it keep progressing the use of the site, but "a final decision to proceed is yet to be taken".
A village that voted to leave the UK
In September, residents of Piddington held a symbolic referendum on leaving the UK as a protest against the plans. A total of 285 people voted in favour and 26 against. Campaigners organised the poll to show how strongly residents oppose the site.
Last month the group Wrong Plan Wrong Site took its case to the high court, seeking a judicial review of the Home Office proposals. The government had decided in August that the site needed no environmental assessment. The campaigners said there were credible concerns about significant environmental effects.
The government and the opposition respond
The Home Office says accommodation should be shared out more fairly nationwide, and it puts savings since the election at more than £1bn. Its plan is to shut every asylum hotel. Former military sites are among the places people would go instead, and the department calls them self-contained, saying they have constant security and CCTV meant to limit the effect on neighbours.
Katie Lam, the shadow housing secretary, said: "Angela Rayner has told the people of Piddington that their voices count for nothing." She argued that moving people from hotels to military bases is not the answer and that they should be removed as soon as they arrive.
Last summer Andy Burnham said people in more affluent parts of the UK must play their part in housing asylum seekers.
Other military sites
In June the Home Office announced it was exploring three former military sites: MoD Bicester, MoD Barnham and MoD Linton-on-Ouse. It is also seeking to extend two existing sites, Crowborough until 2030 and Wethersfield beyond 2027.
Source: the Guardian