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26
Jun
'Devastated' villagers prepare for new battle over Linton asylum centre plans
“Devastated” villagers are preparing for a new fight to stop an asylum centre from being opened at a former North Yorkshire RAF base on the edge of the Harrogate district.
Councillor Marc Goddard, chair of Linton-on-Ouse Parish Council, said the community was “pretty devastated” to hear of a fresh proposal to use the RAF Linton-on-Ouse site to house hundreds of migrants.
Linton is just outside the former Harrogate district. It is four miles from Great Ouseburn and nine miles from Boroughbridge.
The Home Office announced this week that the former base was one of three Ministry of Defence sites earmarked for use following the closure of the controversial asylum hotels.
The government will seek planning permission to house up to 3,750 people at Linton, and former RAF bases at Bicester in Oxfordshire and Barnham in Suffolk.
It is understood the North Yorkshire base could accommodate around 1,200 single men, although this is yet to be confirmed.
Previous plans to use the base as an asylum centre for up to 1,500 single men were abandoned in 2022 amid fierce opposition from local residents and the threat of legal action from the former Hambleton District Council.
Cllr Goddard said:
I’m pretty devastated really with the news, as are most of the village, because four years ago this was taken off the table.
For lots of reasons, the Home Office ministers at the time decided it wasn’t a viable site.
The councillor said the plans were even worse than last time.
He said:
The base is virtually derelict. All the utilities are turned off and there’s nothing on that camp. Indeed, now the wires have been moved back so the housing that was ex-MoD is all filled with families right on the camp.
This isn’t a village with an ex-RAF camp on the outskirts; it’s in the heart of the village — that’s why we said last time it’s just the wrong place and we still have those same feelings.
Cllr Goddard said the government was “moving the deck chairs on the Titanic” by using former MoD bases rather than hotels to house migrants.
He said:
And just like they did last time, they stick a pin on a map and say, ‘where have we got a big empty space? Oh, there, that’ll do’.
But these are people’s lives here. There are 700 people in this village; 1,200 men being dumped here is crazy — it’s crazy for them, and it’s crazy for the villagers.
Residents in Linton-On-Ouse ahead of a public meeting over the planned asylum centre in 2022. Picture: Linton-On-Ouse Action Group.
More than 5,000 people signed a petition against the previous plans to create an asylum centre in the village, and Cllr Goddard said residents would fight the new plans.
Talks have already taken place among residents about reforming the village action group.
Cllr Goddard is also due to speak to local Conservative MP Sir Alec Shelbrooke to get more information on the plans.
“Facts are in short supply just now so we don’t intend to call any meetings yet, but yes we will fight again,” the councillor added.
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