Picturesque villages are facing having their population tripled under government proposals to house asylum seekers at former military barracks.
Residents of Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire, and Barnham, Suffolk, face having hundreds of migrants moved into military accommodation under government plans aimed at ending the use of hotels.
They are protesting against the arrival of the male asylum seekers, raising concerns about crime and saying the prospect leaves them feeling unsafe.
There has been growing fear in the villages since it was announced at the end of last month that the former RAF Linton-on-Ouse was one of three sites being considered, alongside former MoD bases in Bicester in Oxfordshire and Barnham in Suffolk to house about 3,750 asylum seekers.
The government is also looking to extend the use of existing military sites in Crowborough, East Sussex until 2030 and Wethersfield, Essex until at least 2027.
Border security and asylum minister Alex Norris, announcing the plan, said: ‘We are moving asylum seekers into ex-military sites that are a far cry from the hotels the last government left us with.
‘This is a system being brought back under control – and we will not stop until the job is done.’
In Linton-on-Ouse, which has just 700 residents, residents say the move would obliterate the peace of their idyllic North Yorkshire village and put them at risk from hundreds of undocumented men.
Four years ago, under the Conservative government, the village, which is mentioned in the Domesday Book, won a reprieve from a similar plan for 1,500 men to be placed on the former base, which closed down in 2019.
The uproar was such that the plan was shelved and villagers believed that the idea had gone for good.
Now it has returned under Keir Starmer‘s premiership, with plans to house up to 1,200 people, and many are convinced that they will be powerless to see it off for a second time.
All over the village signs have appeared in windows stating ‘Wrong place, wrong time – stop the Linton-on-Ouse asylum centre.’
Until the row resurfaced, it was rare to see a police officer in Linton – now there are daily patrols to ‘offer reassurance’.
One officer, parked in a van outside the village hall, told the Daily Mail he was there to help ease the concerns of residents in case they ‘had any concerns they wanted to express’.
An aerial view of Linton-on-Ouse and the RAF base which could house more than 1,000 asylum seeking males
The picturesque village of Linton-on-Ouse, with just 700 residents, is bracing itself for an influx of 1,200 asylum seekers set to be moved into a former RAF base on its outskirts
Residents say the move would obliterate the peace of their idyllic North Yorkshire village and put them at risk from hundreds of undocumented men between the ages of 17 and 40
For Adrian Smith, 61, who runs a gardening business with his partner, the announcement has already had consequences.
The home they moved into two years ago was on the market for £239,000 with estate agents describing the three-bedroom property as nestling in the ‘desirable village of Linton-on-Ouse’.
Expressions of interest have suddenly dried up and Adrian had no option but to take it off the market.
‘We know there’s no way it’s going to sell now,’ he said. ‘I haven’t had anyone asking to view it since this announcement was made and you can hardly be surprised.
‘We came here for the rural life and the peace of the countryside, which is why everyone loves living in Linton, it’s quiet and safe and you know your neighbours.
‘It’s hard to think of anywhere less suitable for hundreds of men to suddenly be moved in.’
He nods at the wire of the former RAF base, which opened in 1937, just a few yards from his front door.
Adrian added: ‘That’s how close we are to the base and to 1,200 men. Not families, not women and children, just a massive influx of men with nothing to do and nowhere to be all day.
‘We just don’t have the infrastructure to support those numbers. There are only four buses a day, we don’t have a shop, or dentists or a doctor. You have to wonder what these people would do all day.
‘To have 1,200 men moved into a village of 700 people is clearly ridiculous and yet here we are again trying to fight it off for a second time. It’s very worrying.’
The village is home to just 700 residents who fear their idyllic lives will be destroyed if an influx of asylum seekers are allowed to be housed at the base
All over the village signs have appeared in windows stating ‘Wrong place, wrong time – stop the Linton-on-Ouse asylum centre’ (Pictured: Resident Mark Spreadbury, 57)
Previous plans to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers at RAF Linton-on-Ouse were abandoned in 2022 following outcry and a legal challenge from the local council
Mother Alice Sizer, 44, believes the ‘lovely, safe community’ residents have built to bring their children up in is now under threat
On White Rose Close, which borders the base, families moved into rented properties marketed as a safe environment to bring up their children. The quiet cul-de-sac is full of children playing in the streets under the watchful gaze of their parents.
But now it feels far from a safe haven. Father of two Will Garnett, a 25-year-old chef, said: ‘Just about everyone who lives in this street has kids and we rented our place because it was billed as a great environment for young families.
‘It isn’t easy to find a rented property for a family in the area surrounding York and we were really pleased to get this place.
‘But that’s turned into an absolute nightmare with this announcement. I have two daughters aged three and four, how could we leave them to play outside with a camp filled with undocumented men right on the doorstep.
‘People will accuse anyone who objects of racism, but it doesn’t matter where these people are coming from, it completely changes the place where we live and it just isn’t suitable.
‘The village is too small, it can barely accommodate the people who live here already, how can anyone even think about shipping in 1,200 men who have no purpose.
‘They have nowhere to be and are just going to be hanging around with nothing to do.
‘There were hundreds of asylum seekers in a Mercure hotel on the outskirts of York and I lived nearby at the time.
‘I saw first hand the problems it caused the local community to have that many people suddenly arrive out of nowhere. People were frightened to leave their homes because there were groups of men hanging around and in some cases causing trouble.
‘To see that happen here would be horrendous and we’re really worried for our kids.’
There was a similar reaction in Linton Meadows close by. Mother Alice Sizer, 44, said: ‘Almost everyone in our street owns their property and we feel as though we’re going to be stuck with them, what chance would we have of selling our houses with a massive asylum hostel literally yards away.
‘This has been a wonderful street for young families. It’s the sort of place where the children can play out and everyone is looking out for them.
‘The kids are in and out of each other’s homes and we feel that we’ve built a lovely, safe community to bring them up in.
‘But that is suddenly under threat and there doesn’t seem to be anything we can do about it.
‘I just can’t imagine how anyone could think it would be a good idea to bring that many men into a small village where you have a 15-20 minute drive to the nearest shop.
‘You also have to go to a neighbouring village to find a doctor and probably into York eight miles away for a dentist.
‘This is the sort of place where it feels like you’ve gone back in time, children play outside, we have street parties and everyone knows everyone else and we look out for each other.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has waded into the row and said the proposed site ‘is not appropriate’ and the government should stop the plan
Adrian Smith, 61, who runs a gardening business with his partner, says interest in buying his house has dried up since the announcement and he has now taken it off the market
There has been growing fear in the village since it was announced last month that the former RAF Linton-on-Ouse was one of three sites being considered to house asylum seekers
Until the row resurfaced, it was rare to see a police officer in Linton – now there are daily patrols to ‘offer reassurance’
Father of two Will Garnett, a 25-year-old chef, says the ‘village is too small, it can barely accommodate the people who live here already’
‘It’s been the perfect place to bring up kids and now we’re dreading what might happen. It would completely change the fabric of Linton-on-Ouse and I think most people would want to move away – assuming they are able to sell up.’
Retired railway engineer Mark Spreadbury, 57, has lived on the main street in Linton for the past 20 years.
He shakes his head as another police van travels past his cottage. ‘I’ve never seen so many police in a small village, they’re here every day. They say it’s to offer reassurance but they seem concerned that protests are going to start.
‘My question would be how are you going to police 1,200 men at the old RAF base?
‘Their answer to anyone who has asked has been to say they would make evidence-based enquiries, which in other words means they would wait for something to happen before reacting.
‘The old RAF base is the wrong place to house them for so many reasons. It’s not just that the infrastructure of the village plainly can’t cope with that sort of influx.
‘It’s also the case that the buildings on the base are unsafe and have been decaying for years. It’s hard to imagine a less suitable place for this kind of plan and here we are for the second time in five years trying to plead our case.
‘My main concern is for the safety of the residents. We don’t know the background or history of the men who would be shipped in.
‘They have shown determination and have been prepared to break the law to get here, so what are they going to do when they arrive?’
Former army nurse Deb Watson, 62, said: ‘I find it terrifying that a beautiful old village like this, which appears in the Domesday Book, can be considered a suitable place to house 1,200 men with nothing to do and nowhere to go.
‘They’re talking about putting on buses to take them into York and giving them bikes so they can roam around the countryside.
‘My husband works away for much of the time and if this goes through I will no longer feel safe in my home, I’m already considered all the security measures we’ll need to put in.
‘Our shop closed down around four years ago and we don’t have a GP or dentist. The water pressure can barely cope with the demand already on it, what’s going to happen when the asylum hostel opens with all those individual rooms?
‘We thought this ridiculous idea had gone away with the last government and now it’s come back under Keir Starmer and once again we feel we’re being ignored and pushed aside.’
Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said: ‘It’s important to be clear from the outset that we do not object to the government’s desire to house asylum seekers with dignity in safe and secure accommodation.
‘However, we agree with many of the points made, and the concerns expressed by residents in the hundreds of correspondences we have received already, and we do not believe that Linton–on–Ouse is an appropriate location to house potentially 1,200 single adult males.
‘We share the views of many leading voices in our region that this plan by the Home Office is flawed, that the site is completely inappropriate and that it was found to be so following a thorough investigation only a few years ago.’
Locals in Barnham, Suffolk, have said they would be overwhelmed if plans to turn a former RAF base (pictured) into accommodation for lone, male migrants were approved
Kerri Williams, 51, is from an RAF family and has lived with her daughter Jessika, 27, in Barnham for 25 years – they are against the proposals
A sign expressing support for Restore Britain is seen in Barnham this week
Locals in Barnham, Suffolk, have said they would be overwhelmed if plans to turn a former RAF base into accommodation for lone, male migrants were approved.
The village, just three miles south of Thetford, is home to 580 people and has no shop or pub but is home to a church and RAF base.
Hundreds of people from as far away as Essex flocked to protests over the plans in recent weeks over plans to house up to 1,250 people at Barnham.
An encampment has been set up outside the gates with rotating protesters – with placards reading: ‘Thetford says no!’ and ‘Don’t trust Home Office – it’s all lies.’
Kerri Williams, 51, is from an RAF family and has lived with her daughter Jessika, 27, in Barnham for 25 years.
Kerri said she had serious concerns over the site housing lone, male migrants and has attended the peaceful protests.
She said: ‘These are grown men with their iPhones and new trainers. If it was women with kids, it wouldn’t be so bad.
‘I would like to give them the benefit of the doubt but we just can’t. We’ve seen the amount of crime they bring.
‘There has not been enough information for residents over what’s happening.
‘My other half has even told our 31-year-old daughter she shouldn’t be going out after dark.’
The village, just three miles south of Thetford, is home to less than 600 people and has no shop or pub but is home to a church and the RAF base (pictured)
Mary Stern, 77, has lived in Barnham for ten years and says she hopes the group will ‘keep to themselves’
John Smith, 74, has lived in Barnham for 20 years – he says of the asylum seekers: ‘They should send them back to where they came from’
Jessika, a builder, added: ‘I won’t feel safe. This is the best place to grow up – kids are out on the green, in the fields. They won’t be able to do that anymore.’
The proposals have garnered heated debate and have seen several demonstrations outside the RAF base, which is used for storage, or at council meetings.
South West Norfolk Labour MP Terry Jermy was followed by a crowd as he left a meeting last week over the plans in an incident which saw a man arrested.
One woman, who did not want to be named, said some parents were considering pulling their children out of the local primary school over fears.
John Smith, 74, has lived in Barnham for 20 years and said: ‘There will be more of them than us.
‘I would feel differently if it was women and children. They only want them out of the hotels because there was trouble.’
Mary Stern, 77, has lived in Barnham for ten years and comes from an army family.
She said: ‘We need to have someone here to keep them in control. I know what the barracks are like.
‘I hope we’ll have our group of residents up here and they’ll keep to themselves.’
West Suffolk Council has publicly stated that RAF Barnham is ‘the wrong site’ for the accommodation.
They convened an urgent meeting last week to set out its objections and seek clarity from ministers.
Meanwhile John Bauer, chairman of Barnham Parish Council, said: ‘If this were a conventional housing development for 1,250 people, it would require extensive consultation, transport assessment, environmental review and infrastructure planning.’
Another protest is expected to take place outside the RAF base next weekend alongside a march from Thetford to Barnham.
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