Linton-on-Ouse locals issue demands to Shabana Mahmood as 1,200 male asylum seekers to descend on village

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Residents demanded the Government ensure that the community can participate meaningfully in a final decision

Residents of a Yorkshire village have written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood with demands in defiance of plans to move in 1,200 male asylum seekers that would outnumber village women six to one.

The Home Office proposes housing 1,200 adult male asylum seekers at the former RAF site in Linton-on-Ouse - a village with around 600 adult residents - for a minimum of three years.

The cost of housing each ayslum seeker at the site is estimated between £403 and £527 per night, with locals citing how the prospect has already impacted the community with families in social housing leaving.

Other concerns include the small village lacking proper transport, local shops, and adequate sewage capacity to support the center, and that the site sits in close proximity to a local primary school and nursery.

In an open letter to the Home Secretary issued today, the Linton-on-Ouse Action Group called out Prime minister Andy Burnham for "shying away" from responding to resident complaints.

The letter opened by claiming the proposal defies the very notion of democracy, by continuing despite open participation from locals, with the principles of democratic society being "put to a serious test at Linton-on-Ouse".

The resident group welcome the Prime Minister's ambition for devolved power, but "it cannot mean local power when Whitehall agrees, and Whitehall power when it does not", they wrote.

Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, has made clear that RAF Linton-on-Ouse is the wrong place for large-scale asylum accommodation, with the site instead presenting an opportunity for housing redevelopment to deliver homes which North Yorkshire "urgently needs".

North Yorkshire Council also raised serious concerns about infrastructure, healthcare, education, transport, community safety and public services, and has stated that this is the "wrong proposal for the wrong location".

"We are particularly concerned by the possibility of exceptional or emergency planning mechanisms being used to avoid the normal local planning process", the letter continues, "If that is contemplated, the Government must explain why".

The group urged the Government to conduct a legitimate consultation with "elected representatives, statutory bodies and residents able to challenge the evidence".

"Removing that scrutiny would not simply make the decision faster. It would make it less accountable. A self-imposed political deadline cannot, by itself, justify removing democratic safeguards", they letter added.

In writing, the resident group asked Ms Mahmood to pledge commitments - among them to respect the local planning process and meaningful local participation, and to explain the democratic case behind the decision against the will of residents.

Thirdly, to not use emergency or exceptional powers to remove RAF Linton-on-Ouse from normal local planning scrutiny "without a compelling, transparent and publicly demonstrated justification".

Residents also demanded the government ensure that the community can participate meaningfully in a final decision.

Lastly, they wrote: "Explain how taking a major strategic development opportunity out of local hands for a minimum of three years is consistent with a government whose stated purpose is to transfer power from Westminster to local communities."

Similar plans were shot down in 2022 after fierce local opposition, but the proposals are now under active consideration.

Local Tory councillor Malcolm Taylor said many families had moved to the village after the original plans were abandoned, thinking the same problems would not resurface.

When it did reemerge, residents were quick to call for support from the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum, Anna Turley MP, but said they sent "thousands of emails and letters with absolutely no response."

In August GB News' Mark White grilled Ms Turley over the military base strategy as seen in Linton-on-Ouse, which she defended as "secure, self-contained, and reduce the pressure on local public services".

The Home Office has stated that no final decision on the site will be made until feasibility assessments, planning permissions and necessary approvals have been properly considered.

Andy Burnham has defended the use of military sites as part of Labour's vow to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029