Home Office ordered to stop all work on asylum seeker accommodation
The Home Office has been ordered to halt all building work at a former RAF base earmarked to house asylum seekers in the latest round of a legal battle.
West Lindsey District Council issued an enforcement notice to the Home Office calling for all work to stop at RAF Scampton “with immediate effect”.
It comes after a site vist by council officers found it was “clear” that there had been “a breach of planning control”.
Earlier this month, the Home Office was accused of continuing with development work at the former RAF base in defiance of a stop notice from the council.
Up to 2,000 male migrants are due to be housed at the base, which was once home to the Dambusters and the Red Arrows, with the first cohort expected to arrive in October.
The plans, which will be put before a High Court judicial reivew from next month, have sparked a bitter feud between the Government and locals who fear it will torpedo a £300m regeneration programme.
Friday’s council order, which follows a stop notice issed on 8 September to halt certain construciton work, says Scampton should no longer be used as accommodation for asylum seekers and that any migrants should be removed.
Development work to portacabins, fencing and intrusive groundworks should also be stopped with the site restored to its original condition, the council said.
Council officers visited the site on 14 September and said “it was clear [to them] there has been a breach of planning control.
Cllr Trevor Young, Leader of West Lindsey District Council said it is an offence to fail to comply with a stop notice as he “urged the Home Office to cease all works in line with this legal action.”
He said: “From the moment the decision to use RAF Scampton as an asylum accommodation centre was made, the Council have been clear that this is not an appropriate site for this purpose.
“Use of the site for asylum accommodation puts at risk the £300million investment proposal.
“It is incredibly disappointing that despite repeated assurances that the site would be safe, legal and compliant, the Home Office has failed to secure appropriate planning permission or to adequately assess the impact of their proposals.”
Hamish Falconer, Labour parliamentary candidate for Lincoln hit out at “shocking vandalism from the Home Office and Serco”.
“They have admitted that this is going to be more expensive than hotels, are no longer even promising to maintain the runway which is vital for the investment,” he told i.
“They are trying to ruin the heritage and potential of the site with skips, septic tanks and portacabins before we even get to court for the judicial review at the end of next month.
“They appear to be breaking the law in their mania to have something to say about their failing small boats policy.”
Sally Grindrod-Smith, Director of Planning Regeneration and Communities at West Lindsey District Council, said: “At the site visit last week, officers observed significant works on site that were not considered as part of the Home Office’s Environmental Impact Assessment Screening Request.
“This means that the impact of the development has not been properly assessed.
“Additionally, it is clear from the scale of works on site that this development is not limited to a temporary period of 12 months.”
The move came after the council served the Home Office and its contractors with a temporary stop notice after a “breach of planning control” relating to listed buildings and archaeology on the site.
A high court judicial review from West Lindsey District Council into the Home Office plans to house migrants at Scampton will take place on 31 October and 1 November.
The Home Office was contacted for comment.
