Housing 1,000 asylum seekers near village ‘would threaten security of residents’
The Government is proposing to move over a thousand asylum seekers into an ex-military base near Piddington.
Plans to move more than 1,000 asylum seekers into an Oxfordshire village would threaten residents’ human rights, security and way of life, a local councillor has said.
The Government’s proposal to move 1,250 adult men into an ex-military base would also pose a risk to the asylum seekers themselves given its proximity to military training exercises, he said.
Mike Nixon, the vice-chairman of Piddington Parish Council, has backed a referendum for the village’s independence from the United Kingdom in protest against the Home Office plans.
On July 4, on the 250th anniversary of American independence, 96% of Piddington voters backed holding an independence referendum.
Mr Nixon said although he is in agreement with Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s intent to disperse asylum seekers into middle class communities, he believes the plan to do so in Piddington is impractical and unnecessary.
As a result, the village will hold an independence referendum in September – on a date to be decided next Tuesday.
Asked why the village wants one, Mr Nixon said: “We’re still very frustrated. Andy Burnham did say that he’s willing to listen, but we’ve had no formal contact. No consultation, nothing from the Home Office.
“We felt that the only way of making our views felt was to say ‘well if we’re not going to be listened to, what’s the point of being a part of the country?’
“It’s a symbolic vote, and I suspect the village will overwhelmingly vote in favour, because we aren’t being listened to, despite what Andy Burnham said on Tuesday.
“I think that will send another powerful message to the Government that they can’t just push people around. We have human rights, and our human rights to a family life are being affected by the proposal of this Government.”
Mr Nixon, 63, said the plans are flawed, posing risks to both residents and asylum seekers, and because they undermine Mr Burnham’s devolution plans.
The Government wants to use the Urgent Crown Development Process which allows Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to bypass local planning authorities.
Mr Nixon said: “It bypasses all of the planning consultation, which goes completely against Andy’s devolution to the postcodes concept. It’s a diktat from Whitehall, a top-down imposed scheme, take it or leave it. I’d rather we’d leave it, thank-you.
“The village doesn’t have any infrastructure. We have a playing field for children and walking dogs that’s literally propped up to one of the fences of the proposed camp.
“There’s a huge amount of concern and worry. There’s 46 children out of a population of 370, the parents are extremely worried. Children can walk around, go to the local park, parents are now saying that’s going to completely change, as is their way of life."
“A lot of the elderly population in the village are equally worried about security and people are talking about either moving out, if they can, but that would be a problem, because, obviously, the plans would have an effect on the ability to sell properties."
“Or getting industrial level CCTV and surveillance to try and give some reassurance to the residents. I think it will have a dramatic effect on the whole village and the way we live our lives.”
Addressing his concern for the asylum seekers themselves, Mr Nixon said: “Having a mass camp of 1,250 male asylum seekers next to a village of 370 is just illogical, it makes no sense, from a security standpoint or a cost standpoint.
“There’s no benefit to the community here, and there’s no benefit to the asylum seekers, because they need a lot more support than they’re going to ever get at that particular site."
“They need services, facilities, lawyers, mental health services, which they’re clearly not going to get on a disused ex-military storage site."
“One of the things that concerns us is that the site’s right next to a MoD Ministry of Defence training facility where every weekend they simulate gunfire and explosions."
“If you’re a refugee coming from a war-torn area and you’re suffering from PTSD, do you think housing someone next to an Army training site is a sensible idea? We don’t.”
When asked about Piddington’s protests, Mr Burnham told GB News on Tuesday that Britain’s “poorest communities” cannot be the only ones to receive refugees and asylum seekers.
Responding to that, Mr Nixon said: “I’m in complete agreement that there needs to be a dispersal model for asylum seekers around the country. Although the thought that this area and Oxfordshire, in particular, have not taken their fair share is inaccurate. There are currently, in Oxfordshire, something like 480 asylum seekers housed in dispersal, HMO, accommodation.
“Could Piddington house a few? We’ve got 140 properties in the village, total, in the parish. There could be a few properties that might be purchasable and usable, but we’re talking a handful, realistically.”