County council objects to Bicester military base asylum plans
Oxfordshire County Council has raised a series of formal objections to the Home Office’s plans to build large-scale asylum accommodation at a site near Bicester as well as saying that the handling of the proposals has “undermined confidence from the outset”.
Councillor Neil Fawcett, the Deputy Leader of the county council sent the letter of objection to the government setting out a range of serious concerns about the proposals at the MOD Bicester Site A,
The Home Office first announced the plan in the summer – giving local authorities less than 24 hours’ notice and with no prior engagement with local residents or partners.
In the letter Councillor Fawcett said: “This application gives limited consideration to the impact on nearby communities, despite acknowledging possible anxiety, protest, demonstration or disorder associated with a non-detained site.
“The proximity to the Buckinghamshire border also gives the proposals wider impact. Thames Valley Police, who have already had to engage with tensions before construction has begun, should be provided with additional financial support to keep people safe.
“The council has not seen a sufficiently developed community engagement plan from government to prevent and respond to misinformation and community tensions. Decisions of this scale must be developed transparently and in genuine partnership with local communities, which has not happened here.”
The letter raises objections including:
- Poor connections to surrounding settlements and lack of access to buses, footways, cycleways and street lighting
- Unresolved questions about flood risk, land contamination, wildfire, hazardous materials and risks relating to fire protection between temporary accommodation units.
- The lack of locally agreed arrangements for disease prevention and outbreak management alongside greater clarity on vaccination, prescribing, isolation capacity, contact tracing, room and occupancy and the availability of spare rooms should there be an outbreak.
- Questions about whether shared modular accommodation can remain safe and suitable during increasingly extreme temperatures.
- Insufficient detail on mental health support and privacy for people experiencing poor mental wellbeing or post traumatic stress
- The lack of clarity about the range, capacity and quality of welfare and health services that will be provided on the site nor how adult social care, safeguarding, public health, fire and rescue, hospitals, transport and other local services would be assessed, funded and mitigated – with the same concern applying to local voluntary and community organisations.
Oxfordshire County Council has “Council of Sanctuary” status, which involves a commitment to ensuring that anyone placed in the county by the Home Office is treated with basic dignity and humanity. The letter to government concludes: “Supporting people in need and standing alongside local communities are not mutually exclusive. A responsible accommodation policy must do both. In the council’s view this proposal does neither.”
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