RAF Scampton: Home Office meets residents over migrants site at base

The Home Office plans to place 2,000 asylum seekers at RAF Scampton

Local residents will have the chance to quiz Home Office representatives about plans to house asylum seekers at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.

Up to 2,000 migrants could move into the site which was once home to the 617 Dambusters Squadron, whose crews flew the famous May 1943 German dam raids.

The first asylum seekers are due to arrive in October, though the Home Office's plan is under judicial review.

Four community engagement events are being held on 31 August.

Each session is limited to 100 people, and is for those living in either the former service family accommodation or nearby villages of Scampton, Aisthorpe, Brattleby, Cammeringham and North Carlton.

'Box-ticking exercise'

A message via the event's private ticket link said: "We would like to invite local residents to a community engagement event aimed at facilitating an informed dialogue around the development of the site at Scampton to be used for asylum accommodation.

"The event will provide you, the local community, with an opportunity to gain insight into the Home Office's proposals, engage in thoughtful discussions and provide reassurances to your concerns."

The move comes after a confidential meeting involving various officials and campaign groups was held last week.

Roger Patterson, Conservative councillor for Scampton, was one of those who attended.

Roger Patterson said he remained hopeful that a judicial review could halt the plans

He described the Home Office's efforts at community engagement as merely a "box-ticking exercise", but said the meeting "wasn't entirely fruitless".

Some campaigners had objected to the government's plans for the Scampton site due to its links with the Dambusters squadron, while others said the proposals threatened a £300m regeneration project.

Others were concerned about the impact on the local community.

The RAF had wanted to relocate the Dambusters' dog's grave from RAF Scampton to RAF Marham in King's Lynn, but the proposal was rejected

Mr Patterson said he had received some assurances regarding the heritage of the site, including the preservation of the grave of a dog, which was a mascot to the Dambusters.

"They have given a cast iron guarantee that the dog's grave is going to be looked after," he said, adding there was also potential for a compromise in relation to the regeneration project.

"This matters more to me than whether we have immigrants on the base or not."

Sarah Carter, head of the Save Our Scampton campaign, was also at the meeting, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"One of the things that pricked my ears up was when they said they need to make it fair with what they supply to the migrants," she said.

"He [the Home Office representative] said they need to take care of their mental and physical health, but they cannot be better catered for than local residents'."

Campaigners staged a circus-themed rally outside RAF Scampton last week in protest at the plans

The Home Office previously said providing accommodation on "surplus military sites" would be "cheaper and more suitable" and "reduce the use of costly hotels".

It added such sites as the ones being proposed were "more manageable", citing on-site healthcare and catering facilities and security.