Home Office hit with enforcement notice over works at RAF base being used to house asylum seekers

Home Office plans to move asylum seekers onto RAF Scampton have been hampered once again after West Lindsey District Council served an enforcement notice and a stop notice requiring all asylum seekers to leave the site.

The Lincolnshire council served the notices on Friday (22 September), meaning that all activity using the site as accommodation for asylum seekers must stop under sections 172 and 183 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended).

The Home Office invoked emergency permitted development rights in order to build accommodations on the site for up to 2,000 asylum seekers.

But the department's plans have been met by a slew of legal challenges, including a judicial review challenge which is yet to be heard.

Friday's enforcement notices come two weeks on from the serving of a temporary stop notice, which West Lindsey sought after alleging planning breaches had taken place on the site.

Council officers carried out a site visit on 15 September following the temporary notice and found breaches of planning control relating to material change of use and over the "carrying out of operational development including the siting of Portakabins to house asylum seekers and significant invasive grounds".

Sally Grindrod-Smith, Director of Planning Regeneration and Communities at West Lindsey District Council, said: "At the Site visit last week, officers observed significant works on site that were not considered as part of the Home Office's Environmental Impact Assessment Screening Request. This means that the impact of the development has not been properly assessed.

"Emergency permitted development rights (pursuant to Schedule 2 Part 19 Class Q of the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2010 RAF Scampton 22 September 2023 (as amended) are only available to the government in a genuine emergency, which has not been proven and when a negative environmental impact assessment screening decision is in place. Additionally, it is clear from the scale of works on site that this development is not limited to a temporary period of 12 months."

The notices require that the Home Office:

• Ceases using the site as accommodation for asylum seekers.
• Removes any asylum seekers residing on the site.
• Ceases operational development works to Site Portakabins on the site and ancillary works associated with the siting of the Portakabins, such as utility connections, any hard standing, and fencing to enclose the Portakabins.
• Ceases all intrusive groundworks on the site.
• Restores the site to its original condition.

Cllr Trevor Young, Leader of West Lindsey District Council, said the Home Office's use of the site for asylum accommodation puts at risk a £300m investment proposal.

"It is incredibly disappointing that despite repeated assurances that the site would be safe, legal and compliant, the Home Office has failed to secure appropriate planning permission or to adequately assess the impact of their proposals," he said.

"It is an offence to contravene the Stop Notice and I urge the Home Office to cease all works in line with this legal action."

West Lindsey's judicial review challenge is due to be heard by the High Court over two days on 31 October and 1 November.

Adam Carey