RESIDENTS are stunned their picture postcard Yorkshire village has been earmarked for accommodating 1,200 asylum seekers – four years after a nearly identical plan by the Tories was scrapped.
The bombshell announcement late last month allegedly came without anyone being consulted in the Domesday Book village of Linton-on-Ouse, near York, in .
Residents have been left stunned at plans to accommodate 1,200 asylum seekers in their picture postcard village Credit: Glen Minikin
They are set to be housed in Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire after similar plans were scrapped for the area four years ago Credit: Glen Minikin
The aim is to use the former air base, Linton-on-Ouse, which has been in the village since 1937, to house migrants after flying operations ceased in 2019.
It was recently announced that the site would be one of , to be turned into migrant housing as part of Labour’s plans to close asylum hotels.
The other two sites include a facility in Bicester, Oxfordshire and RAF Barnham in .
Meanwhile, on Friday, the Home Office for 83 asylum seekers dubbed “Migrant Street” in Stoke Heath, Shropshire.
When the plan was first mooted for Linton four years ago, there was massive opposition.
Previous plans to use the base as an asylum centre for up to 1,500 single men were abandoned in 2022 amid fierce protests from local residents and the threat of action from the former Hambleton District Council.
Now, residents say the arguments are the same as four years ago – there is nothing for a further 1,200 men to do in the village.
Their only shop had been shut and boarded up for four years; there is only one pub in the village and just a few buses to every day.
The aim is to use a former RAF base to house the migrants Credit: Glen Minikin
Local resident Jackie Holder said ‘I don’t think kids will be able to run free without a lot of worry’ Credit: Glen Minikin
Many were also quick to point out that outgoing PM himself had rubbished the idea when it was a Tory initiative.
There are also concerns that the base will cost millions to be made fit for purpose, and the village will be targeted by right wing activists who will turn the village into a “another Southampton”.
Jackie Holder, 77, said: “I think it is going to go through this time. That is my gut feeling.
“They managed to stop it last time. It will be the same again with the protests in the village. I hope I am wrong.
Della Blood, 62, said she was left ‘stunned’ by the announcement Credit: Glen Minikin
Trevor Dawson, 76, questioned how new houses nearby were going to sell Credit: Glen Minikin
“If it was 12 to 15 hundred families, I would say ‘come’.
“We have a lovely village school which has been much depleted with the RAF base closed because there was a lot of RAF kids.
“But 1,200 men? We are only seven hundred of us in this village…”
Trevor Dawson, 76, moved back to the village, where his family has lived for generations, including a granddad who was the local blacksmith, in 1992.
He said: “There are new houses on the land running down to the camp and how they going to sell now?
“They live in a bubble in Westminster. We are on the fringes, out of sight and out of mind. I heard about the announcement on local TV.
“There was no consultation again. Some blokes from the Home Office said we have got to put them somewhere because we are closing all the down.”
Della Blood, 62, heard about the plans on the morning news and described them as “absolutely ridiculous”.
Picture of a house that sale has reportedly fallen through since the announcement Credit: Glen Minikin
There is fierce opposition to the plans after they were first mooted four years ago Credit: Glen Minikin
She said: “I know it was thrown out four years ago but think it has got in the right door this time.
“I don’t think the protesters will succeed this time. Why don’t they open one of the private which has shut down?
“I think it is utterly, utterly bonkers. We don’t want 1,200 men roaming the streets…
“We have got our house for sale and won’t be selling that now. I kept my head really below the parapet last time. But I was stunned when I saw the announcement.”
Professor Olga Matthias says the government needs a ‘clearly thought through long term policy’ Credit: Glen Minikin
Meanwhile, Grenville Long, 66, said ‘it’s totally inappropriate’ Credit: Glen Minikin
Grenville Long, 66, described the plans as “totally inappropriate” and said migrants come to the UK because the country has become a “honeypot”.
The Sun reported last month how migrants will be forced to in a student loan-style scheme and will be stopped from getting settled status if they do.
But the backlash against the announcement for Linton shows little sign of abating.
Prof Olga Matthias, who is leading the new campaign to fight the plans, said: “I only heard about the announcement because I got a telephone call from a journalist asking me what I thought about it.
“I said ‘Excuse me?’ What is needed is not knee-jerk comments but a policy with some substance behind it.
“The Government needs a clearly thought through long term policy – preferably with cross party support.”
Walking her dog, Annie said: “It is an absolutely crazy idea. They are just taking them out of one area and putting them in a rural one, where they will be forgotten about.
“Keir Starmer was against it because the Conservatives proposed it. Now he is proposing to do exactly the same thing. You can’t win.”
Peter Starkey, 77, said: “I am sure there will be a fight. It is gong to be tragic but what can we do but oppose this?”
A man, who asked not be named, said the announcement coincided with the buyers of their house pulling out. “The house is worthless now. I never dreamed this could happen,” he claimed.
“They will be free to roam around the village outnumbering us.
“Keir Starmer was dead against it when the Conservatives tried it so why does he think it is a good idea now?”
As of March, 20,885 asylum seekers were in hotel rooms and 72,768 were in other accommodation such as houses Credit: Getty
Villagers on what has been dubbed ‘Migrant Street’ were left furious over plans to move 83 asylum seekers into newbuild homes Credit: SWNS
Helen Kirby, 74, a former organiser against the scheme four years ago, said: “It is an incredible shock.
“The Government we have now criticised the previous Government for the same actions, Keir Starmer in particular.
“It is totally inappropriate. The company which owns the former military housing on the base has beautifully renovated them for rent and I am sure people are already backing out.
“The community spirit in the village is tremendous. We have always had a very transient community because of the RAF base and have embraced that.
“We have a lot of ex RAF men who live in the village because they wanted to stay here.
“They want to live here although I am not so sure about that now. That I find is a real sadness. Our family have been since 1885 in this property. We have worked hard with the community to build a fantastic community spirit.
“Now we have people who want to run a mile but cannot sell their property. The Home Officer are arrogant and condescending. The last four years have not changed anything.
“We don’t stand a chance because the Government is saying it is going to make sure Linton has asylum seekers sent to it.
“I should be enjoying retirement. We were until that absolutely cruel statement.
“We will do everything we can but I think a lot of people are still in shock and very angry…
“We are a quiet, just get on with it, village. They wanted to build houses on the former airfield but they will not want to do that now.”
Andre Chaplin, 57, who worked on the RAF base as a civilian for 25 years before being made redundant, said: “It is awful.
“I have lived here 36 years and it is a real community. You need anything you just knock on a neighbour’s door.
“We will fight it. We have Yorkshire grit…
“My friend rang me up because she had heard the announcement on TV. I rang my brother who lives in and could not believe it.”
Pensioner Helen Jones, who has lived in the village 20 years, said: “Four years ago, we said ‘no we would not have it’. But the RAF camp has continued to be empty.
“We have got one shop. The bus only goes to York. So, it is a bit of a worry. We knew anything about it until the time it was announced, which is awful really.”
The leader of North Yorkshire Council, Cllr Carl Les, said in a statement: “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.
“The deterioration of the site only makes the issues raised at that time more relevant.”
He continued to say that the council was “seriously disappointed” that a media announcement was made by the Home Office before the council was notified.
Cllr Les added officials have told the council that “no decision has yet been made” with a final decision expected by the end of this year.
He said in summary: “In short, this is the wrong proposal in the wrong location evidenced by the fact the site has been considered and rejected previously on the basis that it is not suitable.”
Border Security and Asylum Minister Alex Norris said: “We promised to close every asylum hotel and hand them back to communities, and that is exactly what we are doing.
“Twenty more hotels have closed, and hotel numbers have more than halved since their peak.
“Instead, we’re 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.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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