Piddington campaigners hope Home Office 'blunder' may halt plans for asylum camp after voting to leave UK

Piddington campaigners hope Home Office 'blunder' may halt plans for asylum camp after voting to leave UK More than 1,200 asylum seekers are set to be housed in a former military site in the tiny Oxfordshire village of Piddington, which is home to just over 300 people Campaigners in Piddington hope an apparent Home Office blunder could halt plans for a proposed asylum camp near the village that voted to leave the UK. There are many protected wildlife species located on and around the ex-military site close to the Oxfordshire village that has been proposed as the location to house some 1,200 asylum seekers. An ecological assessment of the area carried out by the Home Office as part of the application said there was no evidence of protected newts, bats or reptiles that could halt the site from going ahead. However, campaigners have reportedly uncovered records which they say have revealed numerous protected wildlife species in the area. Campaigners said the findings could lead to legal challenges that could prevent the camp from opening - should a government body fail to revise its findings and brings in new protective measures, including a new habitat for any newts. The development comes after residents in the village voted to leave the UK as part of a stunt. 285 villagers out of 312 voted to leave with just 26 voting against it. It has no legal part, though campaigners argued it could send a message to Westminster over the proposed asylum site. But resident Claire Brenner, who uncovered the records, believes the apparent blunder could form part of a high court challenge to the planned site. She said construction of asylum centre on the site could constitute a "wildlife crime." Ms Brenner told The Telegraph: "If the Secretary of State determines this application with this materially incomplete information, that's open to legal challenge. If they proceed to work on the site without a licence, then potentially it's a wildlife crime." Home Office chiefs aimed to use the former Bicester Garrison arison to temporarily house upward of 1,256 people with accommodation, health and welfare facilities, roads, security infrastructure and recreational areas. Parish council chairman Tim McNally previously said the day of the vote had been "incredible." He continued: "Yesterday was the anniversary of the Battle of Britain and for us it was the Battle for Britain. We'd been identified as Ground Zero for a whole number of issues." He went on to address Prime Minister Andy Burnham and other politicians while speaking outside the town hall, adding: "This is an example of democracy in action. This is an example of a mandate of behaviour. I didn't realise what I was opening up and getting involved in. "I just thought we were going to be opposing a plan. A plan that would have an impact on our village, that could turn our village upside down in a way not quite envisaged before." Mr Burnham responded saying that he understands the public's 'strength of feeling' about migration in light of the vote. Meanwhile Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the Government would not reconsider the plans and that "poorer communities" should not be the only ones to shoulder weight of aslyum centres. Speaking to Sky News she said: "What I would just gently say to the people of Piddington is: we inherited a massive asylum backlog. We are getting that backlog down. We're speeding up the processing of claims, and in the meantime, we don't think it's acceptable for all of the burden of shouldering not just asylum accommodation, but also many other forms of temporary accommodation, to fall on poorer communities. "That's what we saw under the previous government. Because accommodation is cheap in many, not just towns, but in particular postcode areas, people who live in more deprived communities have had to put up with almost … every other house in some instances… turned into HMOs, and that is not OK." Liberal Democrat leader of Oxfordshire County Council has warned that using the site to house asylum seekers would be a "lightning rod to the far-Right." Speaking on BBC's Today programme, Tim Bearder said: "Wasting money of tens of millions of pounds on a completely unsuitable site is bad for the taxpayers, it's bad for the asylum seekers, because a site like this will be a lightning rod - it will be dangerous. "I know the Government want to look tough on immigration, they want to put them behind tall fences - partly perhaps for their own protection - but actually I think it will be dangerous because this site will be a lightning rod to the far-Right, who will come here, will protest, potentially attack these individuals." He added there could also be "tension" among those living on the site, "which has never housed anybody." He said: "There's no water, there's no electricity to this site, the road outside is dangerous - two people have died in the last three years on that site, which has no footpath." The Government's planning application for the site remains under consideration. It is now the subject of a formal consultation, with representations due today. The referendum was announced yesterday morning and follows an earlier vote in July where 96% of those who took part backed the notion of holding an independence referendum.