IT’S perhaps the biggest mobilisation of local bigwigs, retirees and working folk since Dad’s Army was filmed in these parts.
The genteel Suffolk village of — population 588 — is rebelling after a 1,250-strong, all-male asylum camp was planned for their doorstep.
The turmoil felt by many in this usually sedate corner of East Anglia would be enough for the classic sitcom’s Lance Corporal Jones to yell: “Don’t panic, Mr Mainwaring!”
Step forward former RAF Squadron Leader John Bauer — now spearheading the protest — who told me: “We just want to preserve our village. This asylum camp will completely distort the demographic of the whole area.
“It’s left local women worried for their safety.”
Destined to be compared to Captain Mainwaring, the 20-year veteran insisted: “We just have to keep fighting. It’s the wrong place for an asylum camp and we’ll use everything at our disposal to prevent it.”
While lacking the pomposity of Mainwaring — played to perfection by — John has the same boyish enthusiasm.
The 66-year-old, who later taught physics at nearby Culford School before retiring in December, says that being thrust into the spotlight has left him feeling “energised”.
Posing with a bronze statue of Mainwaring in nearby — which is where many scenes from the timeless BBC comedy were filmed, and home to a Dad’s Army museum — he insisted: “I’m part of the Home Guard for Barnham.”
So how is versus Burnham shaping up?
Last Saturday, the village’s new residents’ association voted on a show of hands of around 77 to seven to hold a symbolic referendum on quitting Britain.
On the eve of the vote, announced it had scaled back planned numbers at the camp to 931.
The idea for the poll was hatched after John and a party of locals drove 100 miles to pick the brains of fellow campaigners in , Oxon.
Residents there have already voted to leave the UK over plans for an asylum camp in a former military base close to their village.
made global headlines, with the world’s richest man, , lending his support.
John makes clear that his village revolution is for all political persuasions and none.
Also the chairman of the parish council, he said: “We don’t want this to be seized upon by extremist groups. But we welcome the support of anyone who backs us in a peaceful and legal way.”
PM insists better-off areas must shoulder their share of efforts to accommodate as asylum hotels are phased out.
As well as former military sites at Barnham and Piddington, the Government has earmarked in for asylum accommodation.
It also wants to extend existing provision at old bases in Crowborough, East Sussex and Wethersfield in Essex.
The says the former military sites “are designed to be self-contained, with 24/7 security and CCTV, to reduce the impact on local communities”.
It adds that £1billion has been saved since the , by moving towards “a fairer distribution of asylum accommodation across the country”.
Yet, it means Burnham now has to contend with the simmering rage — plus deft campaigning and organisational abilities — of Middle England.
It’s seen folk like John — perhaps not a natural agitator — raise platoons of protesters to make the Government think again.
In tiny — whose mix of residents includes retirees, a factory owner, military veterans and farm workers — everyone I spoke to was against the camp.
Walking her shih tzu Alfie, Pat Webb, 68, said: “I’ve retired here to have a peaceful life and now it’s going to be ruined. But the Government doesn’t want to know that.”
The mum-of-three added: “Women in the village have told me that it’s affecting their mental health.
“They’re really scared and having nightmares. I’m scared. It’s not a nice way to live.”
Mentioned in the of 1086, Barnham is a mix of thatched cottages, rambling detached properties and more modest homes clustered around a village green.
Former health centre administrator Pat, who has lived here for 15 years, said: “House prices are already dropping. The first thing I said to my husband when we heard the news about the asylum camp was, ‘I want to move’.
“He said, ‘It’s a waste of time. Who’s going to want to move to Barnham now?’”
The hamlet has a well-regarded primary school, a village hall and a 13th Century church but no pub or shop.
One mum from the village — who didn’t want to be named — believes the proposed centre is in the wrong place as it’s too far away from amenities for the asylum seekers. She added: “There’s a little bit of scaremongering going on.
“I don’t think they’re all going to be malicious sexual predators who are going to come into the village and wreak havoc.
“My daughter is out playing in the street now. I wouldn’t stop that if the camp gets the go-ahead.”
Nearby, retired electrical contractor Peter Staggs, 75, is worried that the proposed site might be contaminated.
The grandad-of-four revealed: “I was seconded to the RAF and actually worked at the camp. They told us not to go anywhere near part of it because that was where they made mustard gas.”
It’s less than a mile by road from the village to the proposed asylum camp, which is surrounded by rolling Breckland landscape of gorse-dotted heath and Scots pines.
The topography will be familiar to fans from the comedy’s end credits — filmed to the north of .
Barnham has had a military base since , when it was used to test tanks and make poisonous mustard gas destined for the Western Front.
During the , free-fall Blue Danube nuclear bombs were housed at the site.
Most recently, it was used as an overspill for nearby RAF Honington before being leased to Norfolk and Suffolk police as a training facility.
Tim Passmore, Police and Crime Commissioner for Suffolk, has accused the Government of “riding roughshod” over the forces’ needs.
The insists the police want to buy the site to train officers on firearms, dog handling and driving.
Thetford’s Labour MP Terry Jermy has written to the PM urging him to back plans for the purchase, calling it a “critical policing asset”.
Campaigners believe an endangered species of bird that breeds in the area might also scupper plans to turn it into an .
More than 200 pairs of stone curlew breed locally in what is a designated wildlife protection zone.
County councillor Scott Hussey, from Reform UK, said: “Under usual circumstances, planning and any kind of expansion of that site would be frowned upon.”
Today the entrance to the base is festooned with English, Scottish, Welsh and US flags and a large red and white banner that reads, “Barnham Says No”.
Every Sunday protesters gather to vent their displeasure at the Government’s plans. The site is just two miles from the Norfolk market town of Thetford.
In August three nights of unrest flared, with thugs travelling in and attempting to storm homes linked to asylum seekers.
Ex-US Air Force mechanic Charles Day says he maintains a daily presence at the camp because he is worried “undocumented” asylum seekers could be recruited to attack nearby US military bases.
The 78-year-old grandfather-of-three, originally from Louisiana, explained:
“The Iranians have only got to find one who’s a bit loose-headed and convince them.”
As we speak, a succession of passing cars on the busy road into Thetford honk their horns in support of the protest. Mum Steph Donaldson, 31, lives opposite the site and is opposed to the camp over safety fears for her young children, who she intends to home-school.
Steph is also worried about “footfall” at the car dealership and dog boarding businesses she co-owns.
As for the PM’s assertion that asylum seekers should be more evenly spread around the country, she added: “It would see us being swamped. It’s not a fair share. We would be completely outnumbered.”
Steph, who backs Barnham’s referendum plan, added: “We have been branded far-Right racists but we’re just concerned citizens. The Government didn’t consult us on the plans. They blindsided us.”
The Home Office has sought to allay fears, saying: “We recognise the strength of feeling in local communities and are listening carefully to the concerns being raised.”
But Barnham’s own Captain Mainwaring doesn’t see it that way.
Ex-Squadron Leader John said: “They’ve tried to impose this on us, on Piddington, on Linton and other locations. It’s just high-handed. There’s an arrogance about it.”
Or, to paraphrase the Dad’s Army theme tune, who do you think you are kidding, Mr Burnham?
