‘Gobsmacked’ villagers vow to fight revived asylum seeker centre plan

‘Gobsmacked’ villagers vow to fight revived asylum seeker centre plan Villagers in Linton-On-Ouse previously thwarted an attempt to house migrants at a former military barracks - Bookmark Campaigners who successfully thwarted a previous attempt to house migrants at a former military barracks in their isolated North Yorkshire village have expressed profound shock and vowed to renew their fight after the plan was resurrected. The government announced on Thursday night that the RAF facility at Linton-on-Ouse would be part of a new scheme to accommodate 3,750 asylum seekers across Ministry of Defence sites. This development comes four years after celebrations erupted in the village, near York, when then-defence secretary Ben Wallace scrapped proposals to house up to 1,500 asylum seekers at the disused site. That decision followed a high-profile local campaign against the initial plan. On Friday, Professor Olga Matthias, a prominent figure in the original campaign, reacted to the new announcement with palpable frustration. "I can scream. Is that good enough?" she said, adding: "Who knew that stupidity has such a big, long shelf-life?" Speaking to the Press Association, Prof Matthias conveyed the widespread disbelief among residents. "It’s just disbelief, isn’t it? We’re utterly and completely gobsmacked. Why are they doing this?" She confirmed that the latest announcement had arrived without warning, stating: "It was thrust upon everyone yesterday. There’s been absolutely no consultation by the Government, none whatsoever." When asked if the Linton Village Action Group believed their battle was over four years ago, Prof Matthias affirmed: "Yes, we did. For all the reasons that we won the campaign last time – infrastructure, dental, the land floods, it’s isolated, there’s no public transport." She highlighted the further decline in local amenities: "There was a village shop. Now there’s no village shop. We have cars, it’s our choice to live here, but if you have no car, no prospects, what do you do?" Prof Matthias also pointed out that the site has undergone further decommissioning since 2022, with some former military houses refurbished and sold. "The site has significantly deteriorated," she explained. "It was a dangerous site anyway, because it’s got toxic waste all over the place, it’s got asbestos. There’s no power, no water, no phone lines actually on the site. So, if the cost before were prohibitive, they’re now going to be astronomical." She added a scathing assessment of the government’s financial approach: "Astronomical costs when they’re spending taxpayers’ money doesn’t bother this Government." Prof Matthias recalled that the government spent millions on the previous plan, including further millions in compensation to the private company slated to run the migrant centre. "Probably what the most gobsmacking thing is, is it could be the same civil servants dealing with it this time round," she speculated. Questioning the Home Office’s rationale, Prof Matthias said: "So, why is the Home Office thinking of doing this? Heaven only knows. It does seem to me that it’s important to this Government to be seen to be doing something. Let’s hope this will be the 35th U-turn, or however many they’ve done." Despite their previous success, the action group never formally disbanded, though Prof Matthias admitted: "we didn’t actually believe that it would raise its head as a proper possibility again." She concluded with a defiant message: "But we have to fight the fight, because somebody’s decided they need soundbites, and they need to be seen to be doing something. They will spend time, energy, and money on trying to convince us all that we’re wrong, they’re right, and then, like I say, there’ll probably be a U-turn, and they won’t do it." Prof Matthias also raised concerns about staffing, given the site’s remote location. "It’s isolated. Who’s going to get here on these country roads for a minimum wage job?" When the initial plans were announced in April 2022, the Home Office stated the facility would provide "safe and cost-effective" accommodation for single adult men claiming asylum in the UK who met suitability criteria. Senior civil servants faced a two-hour grilling from residents at a heated village meeting, where one local described the community as being "in crisis." Before the previous plan was abandoned, the local authority had threatened a judicial review, and Rishi Sunak, then a North Yorkshire MP and a candidate for Tory leader, had pledged to scrap the proposal if he entered Downing Street. [Image text:] THE PADDOCKS