Piddington to challenge plan for asylum site housing more than 1,200

Villagers in Piddington, Oxfordshire, say the government will face a legal challenge over plans to turn the nearby MoD Bicester site into accommodation for more than 1,200 detained asylum seekers, according to the BBC and the Evening Standard. Opponents now have six weeks to challenge the planning decision.

Parish council chairman Tim McNally told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that ministers should be braced for action. Asked directly, he said "absolutely".

How the dispute reached this point

September: Piddington symbolically voted to leave the UK in protest at the planned use of the site, the BBC reported.
Last month: The group Wrong Plan Wrong Site appealed for a judicial review of the proposals.
Planning decision: Housing Secretary Angela Rayner approved planning permission after the Home Office used a fast-track route for projects judged urgent and of national importance. A government report said the decision drew 3,177 representations against and one in support, and that Rayner granted permission because national demand for asylum accommodation remains high.
Thursday: A Home Office spokesperson said planning permission lets the department keep progressing the use of the site, but a final decision to proceed has not yet been taken.

What the permission covers

The permission allows for the demolition of existing buildings, the construction of new modular accommodation, and provision for health and welfare facilities, the BBC reported.

The Home Office said the government is working on a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation across the country, and that more than £1 billion has been saved in costs since the election. It said this includes closing all asylum hotels and moving to alternatives such as former military sites, which it described as self-contained, with 24/7 security and CCTV to limit the effect on local communities.

What villagers say they will do

McNally said the village could also use the new Hillsborough Law. Once passed, that law would create a legally enforceable duty of candour, requiring public officials and authorities to act transparently during investigations and inquiries. He said villagers would reveal their plans as they develop, that Thursday was a day of reflection, and that the law is there for a reason and they intend to apply it.

He also compared the government's approach to the plans with comments Prime Minister Andy Burnham made the previous evening about violence against women, saying the reality for the village was the same thing the government was doing to it.

What ministers and opponents say

Defence minister Luke Pollard told LBC there is a strong sense of feeling in the community around Bicester, especially in Piddington. He said the Home Office continues to engage with residents and that there are still more stages to go, so the plan is not yet fully locked in. Pollard said concerns could still be mitigated and that any change will worry people living near the site.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the plans a "betrayal of the women of Piddington". She said on social media that she met a village terrified of what was coming, and that the government had ignored its concerns. She also said those who would be housed are in Britain illegally and should be deported as soon as possible rather than put in unsuitable areas.

What it means for the village and for asylum accommodation

For people living near MoD Bicester, the planning permission does not end the matter: the Home Office says no final decision to proceed has been taken, and the six-week window for a legal challenge is open. For the government, the case is a test of its plan to replace hotels with sites such as former military bases.

Whether a challenge is filed, and on what grounds, has not been disclosed. McNally said the village would announce its next steps in due course.

Around Prague, based on reporting by Evening Standard, BBC News

Cover photo: Robert Eva / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped

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